Scattered Illusions: Shattered World
by Faecat
Summary: If you read Scattered Illusions then you know that Scatterblade, Illusory, and Charlie had a rough go of life trying to build their home and settle into peace. We pick back up with them to see where life takes them after their newspark Silverdust has separated. Warning: This is not a fluffy gentle cruse through life. Bad things happen. Lots of bad things.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello world! Has it been a while? Well, we're back. roudyredd and I are back with the Cybertronian tales of Scatterblade and Illusory (and their brand new sparkling Silverdust.) We never let the story die, folks, I just became a huge slacker about posting. So there are CHAPTERS to be had. I hope yoou enjoy._

 _We pick up roughly a year after Illusory and Scatterblade have returned home to California and have settled in with their sparkling and human friend Charlie._

 _Now, ladies and gentlemen, I kindly request that you buckle down for this ride because it is not a sweet story and it rarely stops for a breather. You have been warned._

 _Check out the footer for notes and stuff you might find useful at some point._

* * *

~*~ Chapter One ~*~

Day 1

Tucked away on the shores of California sat the unsuspecting home of Earth's very first Cybertronian familial unit. Scatterblade and Illusory had settled into the family life decently enough; a few rough spots along the way, but it was starting to look nice on them. The tiny sparkling, Silverdust, had been everything they needed to bring life to their world of war.

The comfortable ambiance of the home was disturbed when the average looking human-sized door swung open, startling Scatterblade. His flinch caused him to cut straight through the wood he had been working. A frustrated scowl on his faceplates, he spotted the small human to blame for the disturbance.

"Thanks, Chuck," he grumbled indignantly. Whatever shape the wood was taking had been cleaved.

Charlie stifled a laugh as she hurried up the stairs to his work bench. "What is that?"

Scatterblade's scowl pushed towards a smile, though he fought to stay 'mad.' "It was a little something. Now it's two little somethings."

"You're such an articulate male," she quipped with a grin, her nose turned up.

"And you're any better?" He laughed. "So where've you been?"

"Shopping," she huffed, fixing him with a glare. "I tried to call you to get some help with groceries, but you wouldn't pick up."

Scatterblade's brow furrowed with confusion. "I didn't get a call."

She held up her hands. "Well, I did. I tried both of you. I thought maybe you were 'busy.'" She flushed a little at the implication.

He grunted and turned back to the broken wood, checking his comm lines at the same time. They all seemed to be working. It could've been a glitch with her phone carrier. That did tend to happen sometimes; especially as far out as they were. He focused back to his project.

Illusory sat on the floor with her sparkling playing beside her. She had found it easier to relax these days and enjoyed lounging with Silverdust. Charlie went to join them, still amazed by the tiny alien 'growing' right before her eyes. It was a different experience to see how their species matured compared humans. For example, they didn't 'grow' but instead they expanded within their frames which caused the illusion of growth. Ratchet had explained to Charlie that as the spark grew stronger, primary systems became more complicated to be able to support the spark and encourage further development, but the frame itself did not grow in the same way human bodies did. At certain life stages, each Cybertronian had to go through an 'upgrade' to a larger frame until they reached adult size. It was weird at best.

"I just got my grades from my professors," Charlie announced with a broad smile on her face.

"All of them good I would assume," Illusory said with a smile.

"I only got one B. The rest were-" she was interrupted as an explosion rocked the house. The concrete that separated the two floors - ground and basement - cracked with a loud concussion.

Scatterblade flew to the three on the floor, scooping up Charlie and shielding his family from the falling debris. "Move! Quickly!" He urged Illusory, nudging her into motion.

Illusory grabbed their sparkling, tucking her close to her chest and raced for the stairs, unwilling to risk the elevator they had installed not long ago. Her spark raced with panic, and she reached desperately for Scatterblade over their bond for support. It wasn't that she had never seen battles, but she had become rather proficient at avoiding them; having one at her front door was unsettling and brought up far too many uncomfortable memories.

Scatterblade reached back to her, keeping the line open for encouragement but closed to his fear. He held tightly to the human as another explosion rocked the home bringing walls crumbling down.

"I didn't see anyone. I swear..." The redhead was frantic, retracing her steps, confident that she hadn't seen anyone near the house. She was so certain...but here they were and what other explanation was there?

"It's not you, Charlie. Relax," Scatterblade snapped. Orns on the front lines came back to him like the air in his vents. There was no room or time for words of assurances or to worry about feelings while under fire. Everyone had to keep focused to keep functioning. He hurried the group to the exit tunnel. He quickly handed Charlie off to Illusory, freeing both hands to open the bay doors.

Illusory held Charlie close with Silverdust, unwilling to risk anything happening to her while Scatterblade opened the doors to their escape. Who knew what waited for them on the other side? "We'll keep you safe," she promised, her voice far more confident than she felt. Her spark was all but screaming with fear. She wanted to run far and fast, to hide away her sparkling and human friend. War had come to their front door; she was sure of it.

Debris began falling all around them as explosion after explosion continued to rock the house. Scatterblade rushed the sequences to get the door open. All they needed was to be trapped here under tons of their destroyed home.

"Blade!"

He didn't know if it was from Charlie, or Illusory, or if they had both screamed. Soldiers were repelling into the basement; there wasn't time to wait for the doors. Scatterblade pulled against the slow-moving mechanism, silently begging for it to go faster.

The heavily armored soldiers opened fire on the trapped bots as they hit the floor. Illusory screamed, transforming around Charlie and her sparkling to protect them, her engine roared with fury and fear. A small part of her thanked Ratchet for her upgraded armor, though the bullets the soldiers were using still ripped through her outer armor with little trouble at least her protoform and her cab where she had tucked away her precious cargo were relatively protected.

Scatterblade practically shoved the white car through the narrow opening and blasted the ceiling behind him as he transformed to follow his mate down the escape tunnel. It didn't collapse as he hoped but it shielded them from most of the firefight. He finally brought up his comm and sent out an SOS. No response came. Somehow the soldiers were blocking their frequency.

'What do we do?' Illusory begged through their bond, rushing down the tunnel as fast as she dared.

He didn't respond for several astroseconds. They were most likely running straight for more soldiers. He had to get word to the others somehow. 'We get you three somewhere safe. Maybe back to Logan. I don't know.'

'Why are they attacking us?' She poured on more speed, feeling her mate's anxiety. She could guess there would be more soldiers waiting for them and she knew that her only chance of passing them was to move quickly and not worry about who she may hurt doing it. All she cared about was that those riding inside her cab were safe.

Scatterblade triggered the sequence for the final door; the light marked their exit. As they sped on the door revealed more men and more artillery began pelting them. He transformed and rolled to his feet, firing at the men and their vehicles clearing a path for his mate.

Illusory roared past the men, hardly slowing at all as her bumper clipped one of the soldiers' vehicles. ::Can anybody hear me?:: She called desperately over all open comm lines. ::We're under attack! What is going on? Please help!:: She waited anxiously for a reply, but as every klik passed with no answers, her spark sank with fear.

Scatterblade kept encouraging thoughts flowing to Illusory, pushing her to keep moving. 'Head to Logan. Get to the Canyon. Don't slow down till you're out of California, if you have to slow down at all.' The more vehicles he disabled, the more men came to swarm him. He batted them away, doing his best not to hurt them. Optimus' voice kept repeating at the back of his processor; 'We do not harm humans.' It was making fighting them off all the more challenging.

'We will see you there,' Illusory said, demanding that he survive and come to them in one piece.

The front-liner turned his attention back to the soldiers. They weren't the typical kind he dealt with at NEST. their uniforms were unfamiliar, and a quick search through the network showed no matches. Another secret team to take out secrets. But why? They hadn't been with any of the others. Only NEST knew they were out here. The implications sent a chill through his systems. Either NEST had been compromised, or these soldiers were exceptionally lucky.

Suddenly alarms blared in his audios. That chill had not been imagined or brought on by thoughts of the worst that could be. The soldiers had brought out tanks of liquid nitrogen and were drenching him with it. His systems were preparing for emergency stasis to protect his spark from the dangerous cold. Denying the safety protocol, he drew his blades. "Back off!" He swung at the hose, severing it with one swing, but it didn't stop spraying him. He swung again this time at the men. If he was to get away, a casualty or two couldn't be helped. 'They brought this war to your door,' he thought. 'Go down fighting.' The swords connected with the mass, flat edges throwing the men to their backs. 'Damn your honor,' he cursed himself. Scatterblade wasn't entirely sure if he had been knocked to his knees, or if he had fallen, but he was sure he could feel each system as they caved in one by one.

Charlie strapped herself down and laid as low as she could in the back seat, cradling Silverdust against her. "Who are those guys? Did I lead them here? Oh, God, I led them here.."

"It probably wasn't you; that was too well planned for them to have just followed you." Illusory did her best to keep her voice calm, but there was a bit of a bite to it. "We're going to go hide in Logan Canyon and wait for Blade to join us there. We'll figure it out then."

"If they found us here, what stops them from finding us in the mountains?"

"Because now I know what I'm hiding from, " she stated with confidence. "Hiding is what I do. Don't worry Charlie. "

Illusory raced as fast as she dared with her passengers, taking back roads and avoiding any cities she could, even going so far as to leave the road entirely when they were still several miles away to keep witnesses to a minimum. She didn't stop until she was as far in as she could drive, then transformed and carried Charlie and her sparkling even deeper still. They were far from any trails, roads or campsites that could be easily traveled by humans.

Illusory paced nervously. She was so far from her mate that their bond felt weak - surely that was the reason it felt as though he were fading away, wasn't it? 'Blade?' She called out nervously.

Scatterblade had held on as long as he could, he was defenseless and had fallen to the human attack. He could only hope that his mate had gotten far enough away with her precious cargo. He wanted to tell her so much; he needed to say so much. Just a single word got through before his systems turned to self-preservation. 'Sorry.' Whatever his fate was to be, it was now completely in the hands of his captors.

'No, no, no, Blade?' Her whole frame froze with fear as she felt him slip away. That final thin line of awareness she had been holding onto so firmly over the past several hours just faded into the silence. She reached and grabbed at their bond with intense fear and was only slightly relieved to discover he was still there. "Stasis..." she mumbled out loud. Her armor tightened down against her frame as her possessor scrambled for thoughts on what she was to do now.

"What?" Charlie hurried to get back to her feet, disturbed from a light doze. "What's wrong? Where's Blade?"

"In stasis," Illusory said before she could stop herself. She was in shock and torn between rushing back to find him and staying to protect what was so precious to both of them. "I don't know what happened; he's in stasis!" Panic was clearly rising within the femme.

Charlie raised her hands. "Sit for a second. Take a breather."

::Any bot who can hear me, please respond!:: She screamed over every comm link she had ever known in her entire function, ::Ah don' care who ya are, if ya can hear me - th humans are attackin', please help!:: Her armor rattled with her rising anger mixed with her fears. "Ah have ta help him..." her optics locked onto Charlie and Silverdust sitting close to her. "Ah can't." She finally gave in and sank to the forest floor, disparity overwhelming her.

Charlie came close to her and leaned against her frame. "At least be strong for Silver. She needs her mama."

Illusory scooped the little femme back into her arms and held her tightly. She curled herself over Charlie, shielding the human with her frame. "Ah don' know what ta do," she admitted finally, "but ah can keep ya safe at least," she promised.

"We've got to find the others." Charlie said, "that's what we need to do. If Blade's out of commission..."

"No one's answerin their comms, we'd have ta go ta NEST...but those soldiers, if they knew where ta find us they either come from NEST or they got connections there."

"Weren't there any backup places? Something only the bots knew about?"

"There's a place Jazz showed me. They may have gone there. It's a long drive."

"Then we'll rest for tonight and set off in the morning." Charlie covered a yawn with her hand. "Even though it's probably morning already."

"Three fourty-six AM."

"Yuck."

Illusory transformed, wrapping both of her treasured beings into her cab. "This will be more comfortable."

Charlie leaned back in the seat and sighed again. "Try to rest. You know the minute he gets back online, he'll tell you."

"Yes," she vented, but recharge would not come to the femme. She spent the time with all her sensors on high waiting to catch any sign the human soldiers might have found them, or waiting for Scatterblade to come back online. 'I need you,' she begged over and over.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian Actual Equivalent

Klik 0.21 seconds 1 second

Astrosecond 10.15 seconds second

Breem 8.12 minutes minute

Joor 6.50 hours hour

Orn 13 days day

Metacycle 130 days week

Groon 1.71 years month

Vorn 82.06 years year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	2. Chapter 2

~*~ Chapter Two ~*~

Day Two

He always hated emergency stasis. His systems were always on high when he came out and either the images were too bright on his optics, or the audio was catching every sound within two miles, or he was overheating with blocked vents.

Now Scatterblade was simply awake. Out cold one klik and aware the next, but it was a groggy awareness; like he had just consumed high grade. Large, bright lights shone down on him unforgivingly. He tried to look away, but his head wouldn't turn. He tried lifting his head, turning his hands or even opening his vents. Only the flaps responded pulling in fresh air to cool his systems. _What is_ \- his face guard was up, and his vocalizer was silent.

A sudden jolt shot down his spine. His body jerked then stopped. As he focused he could hear the sound of metal picked up and put down, wires twanging and a dripping sound. A sudden shudder made him pull up his systems status. His energon was low, and it was slowly getting less.

Then it clicked and he raged within. Silent because he could do nothing else. Someone was messing around with his head. Again.

Illusory felt Scatterblade suddenly there again, and her first instinct was to ask him what she should do, but something didn't feel right. She scanned Charlie and Silverdust, both still sleeping soundly. 'Blade? What's wrong? Are you hurt?'

'Lu...' there was a relief but also mounting frustration through their bond. 'I'm sorry. I couldn't get away.'

'I'm going to come to get you, do you know where you are?'

'No...' He sounded so tired. 'No,' he said firmly as he grasped what she had said. 'Please, stay with Charlie. With Silver. You can't be here.'

'I'll take them to one of the Autobots. Blade, I know you are not okay, I cannot leave you there. We need you.' Even as she spoke, she rolled silently towards the road. She had to go slow to get through the trees and not wake her passengers.

'Lu, I'm serious. I can't move. Even if you could find me, you wouldn't be able to get me out alone.'

'Even more reason I have to find you! I will get someone to come with me; I can't leave you there!' She was getting frustrated with her slow pace and the situation at hand. She had never felt so helpless as she did right that moment.

'Illusory, listen to me,' his tone was firm, and now the frustration was at her. 'I don't know where I am. The klik you try to find my signature will be it. They'll find you. All three of you. Please, stay.

'Silver needs you right now. I can get out of here...eventually. I need to know you'll be safe. Please, do anything but come for me. I'm okay. I'll be right here.'

'I...' her spark was at war with her processor, but eventually, sense won over. 'I hate this,' she growled. 'Promise me you will come back to me. If you promise, I will believe you.' She reached the road and started along the path to the hideaway Jazz had shown to her so long ago.

The frustration melted away and he wrapped her in warmth. 'I promise. I love you.'

'I love you, too.' Trying to forget that her mate was in trouble and focus on the task at hand, Illusory rushed on down the back roads. The east coast was a long way off, but the sooner she got there, the sooner she could get someone to help her mate.

As the sun came up, Illusory turned onto a rural road that promised no contact for significant stretches of road. Her processor turned back to the fact she didn't know where Scatterblade was or if she would find help where they were going. What if they were on their own? Then what?

The light blinded Charlie as she opened her eyes, surprised to find that they were moving. "Illusory, where are we?"

"About to enter Oklahoma."

"What?" Charlie shook the sleep away, sitting up to get a better look around. "Blade said to stay in Logan. What if he comes looking for us?"

"He will not." She did her best not to sound as panicked about that as she felt. "We are going to a safe place Jazz showed me and hope that some of the Autobots are there. We need help."

The redhead leaned back in her seat. "How far away?"

"Several hours still. I am taking back roads to reduce chances that we will be spotted."

Charlie shook her head. "What is going on?"

"I am not entirely sure. Blade just came online a few hours ago. He is hurt, I think. He told me not to go for him; that is why we are going to ask the Autobots for help."

The woman groaned. "Right, because doing what he asked us not to has worked out for us so well."

"I can't just leave him! But I will do as he told me to do and I will stay with you and Silverdust."

"I do not mean to be rude. We just got attacked. And no one is responding. I don't feel too optimistic right now," Charlie sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Neither am I, " Illusory admitted. "I...do not know that there will be anyone there when we arrive. I do not know what else to do."

The attack still rang in her ears and Charlie shuddered. "Let's hope they haven't found it yet."

Illusory agreed silently, picking up a little speed.

They reached their destination almost a full day later, taking as few stops as possible on the way. The place was a ghost town that clearly had seen no traffic in at least a hundred years. "Keep an eye out for anything out of place. "

Charlie nodded and shoved the bag of bread she had been munching on into a backpack she had lifted it at one their stops. It took a lot of nagging to convince Illusory to stop at a mailbox to drop off the wallet and keys that had been in one of the pockets.

There was a stick of deodorant, a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in the bag as well; they had been the only things that had kept her from going crazy on the two-day drive.

Illusory cut her engine and drifted through the town silently, not wanting to scare off a potential ally - or worse, get them shot by the same potential ally. ::Can anyone hear me?:: She knew it was a long shot, and a little risky considering she wasn't sure how much information the soldiers that attacked them had. For all she knew they had found out about this place first and were waiting.

"Charlie...I think I'm going to find someplace safe for you and Silverdust while I scout around here." She found an old well-house on the edge of town that was far enough apart from everything else that the woman would be able to see anyone coming long before they reached her.

Charlie nodded and helped the sparkling inside. "Come play with Auntie Chuck," she smiled. Silverdust came along willingly, interested in this new place.

Illusory transformed and started walking through the town. The fact that nobody replied to her comm both eased her fears a bit and unnerved her more. Either the block had come all the way out here, or nobody was here.

She crept through the town quietly, carefully checking any place where a 'bot could have hidden away. Her small size gave her the benefit of getting to places most others could not, but that didn't mean that someone might not have found a place she couldn't see.

She debated carefully for a few minutes before drawing in as much air as she could to cool her systems and called out. "Anybody here?"

There was silence for a long time before a soft sound caught her attention. From between a couple of the buildings, she had sworn she had checked crept a single motorcycle frame. "Arcee?"

"Yeah," the femme confirmed, transforming to stand in front of the currently dust-covered white femme. "Where's your family?"

Illusory fretted for a minute, wanting to ask where everyone else was, but likely Arcee was part of a patrol shift set up by other hiding Autobots. "Soldiers captured Scatterblade. Charlie and Silverdust are hiding, safe."

Arcee studied the other femme for a long moment before nodding. "Go get them and I'll take you back to the others."

With a deep vent of relief, Illusory darted back to the well-house to collect her sparkling and human friend.

A few games of peekaboo got old, and Charlie shifted uneasily as the young 'bot just stared at her. The redhead had no idea when they started talking and how quickly they grew, but she could have sworn little Silverdust knew more than she let on.

Silverdust watched her current caretaker carefully. She didn't have speech compatibility yet, but she knew what was going on. She could sense her femme creator over their familial bond and knew she was on her way back, so the little femme scampered toward the door to greet Illusory.

Charlie scrambled after her. "Don't run off. I can't exactly lift you back up, kiddo."

Silverdust chirred at Charlie, conveying her comfort with what she was doing.

"Alright." She took the sparkling's hand and said, "At least I'll know where you are this way."

The little femme held tightly to her caretaker's hand and headed out the door. Just as the door closed behind them, Illusory pulled up.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked though she didn't sound too concerned.

"I guess she heard you coming." Charlie was surprised, baffled by the odd coincidence.

"Hn, probably sensed me. Arcee is here; she will take us to the others. Get in," she opened her doors for her passengers.

Charlie nodded and climbed inside with Silverdust.

Illusory drove back to where Arcee was waiting for them. The femme barely waited to see that Illusory was prepared to follow before taking off. They raced across barren grasslands for about three miles before the smaller femme slid down into a small gully with a rocky overhang. Illusory had to stop and lower Charlie and Silverdust down before pressing herself through the narrow gap.

"How did anyone else fit through here?" She wondered aloud, thinking how much smaller she and Arcee were than some of even the smaller frontliners. Suddenly her confidence was fading away.

"What's happening, Arcee?" Charlie asked as they moved.

"Just...keep moving," the smaller femme grumbled. It was clear that she wasn't very happy, though given the situation that was unsurprising.

Illusory had a sudden jolt of realization, "Where's Optimus?"

The redhead looked up to both of them as they climbed.

"He's not here," the femme snapped. "Nobody knows where he is. Comms are down, have been for a while."

Illusory nodded as she finally touched the ground and scooped up her sparkling and Charlie to better keep pace. "I know, we called for help..."

They only had to walk for a short distance before they were in a place that opened up with a narrow gap above that allowed in light. There were three other 'bots sitting in the space - Jazz, Sideswipe, and Mirage.

"Please tell me there are more of you than this?"

A shiver ran down Charlie's spine. She looked over this small group and shook her head sadly.

"Hey, Lu," Jazz greeted, his usual tone significantly diminished though still chipper sounding. "Charlie, good to see ya too. An' th' lil'bot! Glad you three are all right." He paused, surveying the small group for a klik before bowing his head in understanding. "Blade?"

"They took him; he is still alive though. At least, for now. I was coming to find help..." Illusory's voice shook as she spoke.

Charlie put her hand on Illusory's face, trying to help soothe the femme some. She took a deep breath and focused on Jazz. "Did you have any warning?"

"Nah," the mech shrugged. "Seems they just decided they didn't like us and went nuts. Some NEST soldiers tried ta help us...lots of 'em ain't around anymore."

Charlie's chest tightened. "And Tiegan?"

"Can't say fer sure," the mech said as neutrally as he could. "Wish Ah knew, sorry."

Illusory sat on the ground, unsure what to do now, or even how to accept what happened. "What do we do?"

"We keep here until we know what's going on out there," Arcee stated firmly, giving Jazz and Sideswipe equally menacing glares.

"But..." Illusory stammered, "Blade needs help!"

Charlie bit her lip. "He'll be okay. They haven't...killed him. That must be a good sign."

Illusory tried to let Charlie's words come to her as a comfort, but the truth was she wasn't sure that 'alive' was a good thing. Scatterblade had suffered through unimaginable tortures at the hands of Decepticon scientists; she could only imagine what he must be reliving right now. She reached out to him through their bond, seeking to know his presence as much as let him know she was still there, that they were safe.

Hundreds of miles away, thousands for all he knew, Scatterblade felt her tug. He pulled back letting the vibrations reverberate through him and ease his spark. He vented once more. Over the course of a few joors, he felt sections of his body restored then blink out. He wasn't feeling any pain, but his anxiety was rising. He still couldn't talk. Several hours of the tinkering, he noticed they finally found a pattern or must have, because one by one starting at his feet, the feeling would return and then fade. It was only a matter of time before they reached his vocalizers and he could give them a good old Ratchet-like tongue-lashing.

Hector was a man that loved all things mechanical. And scientific. And technological. Cybertronians had been his greatest dream come true - only he had been told that he couldn't examine them to the full extent he thought he should have. Then the new regime came along after the great Chicago disaster...and here he was! Poking around in Cybertronian bodies, learning and creating new things. Oh, but he was so happy to be doing his job.

Scatterblade felt the tinkering rise to his chassis, and panic suddenly overtook him. No, not the spark. Don't mess with it! Damn human. Damn his incompetence at finding the right function. If he had his hands free…

Hector poked at the systems he had just now come to - they were far more complex than any of the others he had found so far; so many firewalls and fail-safes! Whatever lay beyond this had to be fantastic! "Show me what it does," he singsonged as he continued to poke and prod the programming into motion.

Warning systems raged before his optics. His chassis was opening.

"Oooooooooh!" The man leaned forward to watch as metal slid away and a light began to shine through. "What is that? Battery? Is that the power source? I bet it is!"

A message popped up among the warnings, and he jumped on it. The medical nanites went into overdrive to reconnect his vocalizer. "Stop! Please. Leave it alone."

Hector paused for a moment, a little shocked that the robot spoke. "Why?" He asked quietly, continuing to poke through the protocols. If the machine wanted to talk, he could talk, but he was still going to investigate.

"It's...delicate. Just let me close it."

"Close it? I just got it open. What does it do?"

"It doesn't _do_ anything. It's not supposed to be open," Scatterblade said quickly. The mechanism was slow, and he wanted the process reversed before he was completely exposed.

"It's got to do something. There's way too many fail-safes around it for it not to be amazing. Is it your power source? Don't worry; I don't plan on turning you off. I can't learn from you that way."

"Do I have to paint you a picture?" His panic kept rising. "It's fragging heart surgery! Just leave it alone."

"Heart?" Now this did make Hector stop. "You don't have a heart; you're a machine."

"It's the closest thing I have. Please. Close it." He was venting heavily now. He was trying so hard to keep some memory files from glitching to the surface.

"Hmm," Hector weighed his curiosity against the suddenly very human reaction to something very sensitive. "Alright, for now," he agreed nonchalantly. "Still, where is your power source? If that isn't it, what is? Your fuel is unusual too. I haven't been able to study it this fresh before, entirely different spectrum...ah, sorry, I'm rambling. Back to the power source?"

Scatterblade vented slowly and sped up the programming as much as possible. The nanites were in overdrive, and he had to make sure he didn't run them into the ground. He glanced to his peripheral, searching out the callus human. "It's called a spark. It's what keeps me alive," he relented as he cooled down his systems.

"Huh?" Hector leaned back and scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Alive? I don't know about that, but okay." He tapped something on tablet he had sitting next to him before he went on. "So, you're talking now. You weren't before, what changed?"

The mech huffed. "I don't know what you've been doing back there, but you need to stop it. I couldn't move, still, can't. When you starting messing with my chassis, I had to make some emergency repairs."

"How did you do that?" Hector was suddenly very interested in what the robot had to say. Self-repairs? Without external aid from another robot? Well, if that didn't change how he viewed the relationship between robots.

"It's like having a med kit. And they're only for emergencies. Similar to white blood cells in your body."

"So...you compare your systems to living systems?"

Scatterblade vented. "I _am_ living. You think you humans have sole copyright to the term 'organism'?"

"You're a machine," Hector stated as if he were talking to a child that didn't understand the difference between real and imaginary.

"Autonomous robotic organism," he said with equal zeal. What he wouldn't give to just having a glaring match with this twit.

"Circuit boards and AI doesn't equal living. Though it is a fascinating facsimile."

The mech growled. "If you had the nerve just to ask us how we run instead of tearing us from our home, I wouldn't think you so stupid."

"I did ask. Several times. Petitioned even. I was denied on all fronts. But since that Chicago fiasco, now it seems everyone's on my page now. Hence, here you are."

Scatterblade paused. "What about Chicago?" His voice was considerably softer now.

"The near obliteration?" Hector laughed, "Clearly someone forgot to update your software."

"Ha ha," he said, though quickly adding. "What happened? Was is the Cons?"

"Eh, details weren't crucial to me. Some robots attacked, others fought, there was a world in the sky for a few seconds, then everything just stopped. I was out of the country at the time, investigating reports of small robots in Africa. Waste of time."

Scatterblade was silent for a moment, taking it in. Prime sure had been busy. No wonder there hadn't been field reports in a while. "What changed? What happened to NEST?"

"I don't know. Probably disbanded, for all I know. I just know these new guys came along, asked me to do what I've been asking to do since day one."

"So, you're studying me?" His voice was strained jaw clenched tightly.

"Yep."

"I don't take kindly to _scientists_ ," he spat the word.

"Well, that's okay by me. You don't have to like me. I'm still going to study you."

"The Nazis liked studying people, too." Scatterblade's tone was razor sharp. "Genocide is a sticky business."

"True," Hector admitted but not sounding one bit perturbed by the comparison, "but they sure learned a lot of useful things. You know how many lives are saved today because of the things they discovered there? It's pretty amazing."

The mechs tanks churned. "You're sick..."

"Not really, just a different perspective. I'm not saying that what they did was moral, or right, but if they hadn't done it, so many more could have died, and we wouldn't know a fraction of what we do today about genetics and diseases that are carried through bloodlines. Not to mention some of the vaccines that came from that research. It doesn't have to be good to be amazing."

Scatterblade fixed his gaze on the ceiling.

"Ah, break over I see. Back to work then." He resumed his work, investigating other connections, systems, and protocols.

The mech flinched. Scatterblade hated to waste precious resources, but he needed to get out of there. If their conversation today were any hint, he would have a terrible time trying to get him to listen. He sent a warm wave toward his family and hoped it got to them. There wasn't much else he could do right now.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	3. Chapter 3

~*~ Chapter Three ~*~

Day Four

Illusory sensed her mate; she felt things weren't quite right, but he was there, and that had to be enough for now. At least that's what she told herself. It was hard, though, especially during the moments that he was less there - either in recharge or stasis, she couldn't tell which anymore.

She looked at Silverdust and thought of what would happen to her sparkling if Scatterblade died. As far as she knew, if he offlined, she would too, and where would that leave Silverdust? An orphan to be raised by warriors? If they survived this attack on them by humanity? Would she even survive their deactivation?

"I have to go get him," she said finally.

"You can't go," Sideswipe stated, speaking for the first time since the trio had joined them. "You've got to stay with your sparkling. I'll go."

"Go where?" Arcee demanded irritably. "We can't communicate with anyone and we have no idea where anyone is!"

"I can find him," Illusory said, firm in her determination to find and save her mate.

"Lu, we have no idea where to begin. They could've taken him anywhere. We were at home, and they found us. If we're out in the open, we might as well be holding a sign screaming, come get us!" Charlie said with tired exasperation. Illusory's pacing and worrying were wearing her out.

"I can use our bond to guide me..." Illusory started, anything to get moving.

"Ah don't think that's uh good idea, Lu," Jazz interrupted.

"I cannot just do nothing at all!"

"Using your bond to find him is hardly a sure-fire plan," Arcee added. "Even Sides and Sunny didn't always get it right, and they were connected all their lives."

"That's different!" Illusory almost shouted, looking to Sideswipe for support.

"Sorry, Lu. They're right...you might find him but can't be sure they won't find you first." Sideswipe's fire was gone. He turned away from the conversation, resuming his spot against the far wall.

Charlie rested her hand on the femme. "Lu, you need to calm down. We need intel. You cannot go into this blindly."

Illusory was shaking with frustration. She knew what they said was true, but how could she sit idle while her mate was in danger? There was something wrong with him, and she could do nothing to help him. It was just too much for her to take. "What do we do then?" She asked, trying to keep her temper under control.

"What if we used my phone?" Charlie asked. "No, seriously," she pushed when they all gave her odd looks. "We could keep in touch and still go out and get information. And keep you out of harm's way," she pointed at Illusory.

Jazz shook his head. "Right now, we wait. Ya should rest, we'll get it figured out. " He sounded confident, but Illusory wasn't sure she believed him.

Charlie nodded and eyed the white femme sternly. "Has anyone seen water?"

"That well-house might still work," Illusory pointed out dully. She didn't want to change the subject, but she had to make sure she took care of Charlie and Silverdust.

"I have the next patrol," Sideswipe offered, "I'll check it out. " He got to his feet and started back the way they had come. Illusory wondered for a moment how he fit through the gap they came through, but her fears soon swept the curiosity away.

'Hold on,' she begged her mate quietly over their bond, hoping that if nothing else he would sense her determination to see him again. She was only a little relieved to feel the mech respond with a shaky but heartfelt tug.

Charlie sat down against the rock wall and let her gaze wander. This cave seemed ancient, much like the town had looked. She almost expected the Wells Fargo wagon to gallop by; it would have certainly fit how surreal this whole thing appeared. She looked over each of the bots.

Arcree was leaning against the wall, refusing to look at anyone else and glaring at the floor as though it was to blame. Jazz hadn't moved much at all since their arrival; his visor was dark, and his smile was fake. Mirage looked indignant as usual, but the way he held his frame looked off. Illusory was a mess of worry and frustration. They were all scared or worried, and it broke her heart to see them this way. She had known all of them to be strong, able bodies who had unbounded confidence in their skills and each other - yet here and now, they clearly had no idea what to do or where to go.

"Maybe we need to retrace our steps," Charlie spoke up, if for no other reason than to break the sense of gloom. "We could look for a heading back at the house." She thought, perhaps a little too late, that maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all. After all, it wasn't going to take much to send Illusory running off to find her mate.

Jazz nodded at Charlie; his fake smile wavered slightly. "That's an idea, but Ah think we should wait uh little longer, let things settle uh bit."

"The longer we wait," Illusory vented wearily, "the harder it will be to trace anything."

Arcee placed a hand on the other femme's shoulder. It might have been more of an effort in keeping Illusory from taking off than it was an offer of comfort. "We know you're scared for him, but listen to Jazz. This is his thing."

Jazz smiled at Arcee, thankful for her support.

Illusory had a harder time accepting it, but after another moment she nodded. "Okay."

Charlie laid out the backpack and stuffed it behind her head. She was so tired that she was certain she could have even slept on hot coals and called it comfortable.

Illusory eventually fell into a light recharge, her weariness finally taking over, and feeling reasonably safe for the first time since the attack. Silverdust was happy playing in the dirt beside her.

Arcee and Jazz both kept an optic on the little femme. Arcee openly worried while Jazz held a look of grim determination.

It was some time later when Sideswipe finally returned carrying an old water barrel filled with water he had found. "There was a spring a few miles south, thought I'd bring some back for Charlie. The well-house wasn't really accessible."

The woman stirred at her name. "What'd I do?"

"Nothin'," Jazz pointed to the barrel. "Sides found you some water."

"Thanks." She climbed to her feet. Once she'd filled a water bottle from the backpack, she poured some onto a shirt to wipe down.

Silverdust watched Charlie for a minute before she went to examine the barrel for herself then started splashing in it. The redhead laughed when the water hit her face. She splashed the little 'bot back with a big smile. Silverdust squealed happily and splashed more, Charlie becoming a target of most of her watery attacks.

"Why have we never given her a bath?" Charlie laughed as she dodged the sprays.

"Probably because too much water could damage to her underdeveloped systems," Mirage stated with a bit of a snarky flair. "Not to mention rust and corrosion."

Charlie smirked back. "Spoilsport."

"Oh, you hush up," Arcee scolded the blue mech quietly as she watched the two splash seeming unconcerned. "She's having fun and a little water won't hurt her. We'll just make sure she's plenty dry when she's done."

"When you're bigger, we'll go water skiing," Charlie whispered to Silverdust, winking at Illusory.

Illusory smiled at the pair, enjoying the moment for what it was worth - which given the current situation and the grim prospects for the future as she could see it - this small moment was everything. Silverdust squealed and splashed more, enjoying every drop that splattered against her little frame and enjoying watching it soak into the ground around her.

"Okay, enough," Charlie laughed, "I need that."

The sparkling chirred, but quit splashing the water. Instead, Silverdust started playing with the mud she had created around the barrel, seeming just as pleased with that activity as she had with playing in the water.

Charlie couldn't resist the lighthearted play and soon joined her, sans shoes. She stuck her toes in the mud and demonstrated the noises she could make.

After a while, Illusory scooped up her sparkling and placed her close to her chest, directing her core vents on the little femme to dry any water that might have seeped too deep into her tiny frame.

Sideswipe sat quietly for a long time - watching the sparkling play and her femme creator care for her afterward - a scowl firmly placed on his face. "I'm going to go, scout," he stated.

"You just came back," Arcee protested. "It's Jazz's round..." the femme stopped as she saw the look on the front-liner's face. "You didn't mean around here."

"Are you going back to the house?" Charlie jumped to her feet.

"Thought I might look around there." He glanced at Jazz, showing a very rare moment of respecting the ranking officer in the area.

Mirage balked at the idea immediately. "If anyone should go, it should be me! At least I won't be spotted coming half a state away."

Sideswipe swung around to face the blue mech, fire burning cold in his optics, fully prepared to start an all out brawl to prove his point - whatever it might be that let him beat the wires out of the noble-mech - but it was Jazz that spoke up first.

"No, Raj, we'll need you rested and ready when they figure out where 'Blade is. Someone's gonna have ta get in there and get him out alive." That seemed to settle the blue spy enough not to continue to push Sideswipe's very triggery buttons for the time being.

"So...yeah," Sideswipe growled. "Thought I'd go check it out."

"I'll go with you," Charlie said. "I've called Lu before. We don't have to go without communications."

"That would be useful..." Arcee said though she seemed unsure.

Jazz's visor went dark, showing just how carefully he was considering the benefit over the possible consequences. "It'll be dangerous," he warned Charlie as he focused on her, his visor doing little to hide the intensiveness of his gaze. "These humans...they didn't care about any of th' NEST soldiers...Ah don't think they're gonna care yer uh civilian."

Charlie crossed her arms, a sternly offended look on her face. "I think I'll be okay. I've had lots of practice hiding."

Jazz grinned, the seriousness seeming to melt from his features but remained in his gaze. "Ah know, an' Ah trust ya. Just wanted ta make sure. Call if ya have any trouble at all, but keep that ta uh minimum too. Don't know if they know ya have direct connections ta any 'bot, but let's not take th' chance."

She grinned back then nodded thoughtfully. "Will do." She turned to Sideswipe. "Any objections?"

"I wouldn't mind the company. Besides, bet you'd probably like some food. It's been awhile since you got here. I know a place some of the soldiers used to go to grab some 'good food.'"

Charlie smiled genuinely relieved. "Sounds great." She walked over to Illusory and Silverdust. She stroked the little femme. "We'll be back. And so will your Daddy."

Illusory did her best not to protest; Charlie had been her first friend on this planet and had been under her protection for a very long time. Letting the woman go with Sideswipe felt wrong, but with the comms down, it was the only way Sideswipe would be able to get help if he needed it, or if he found Scatterblade. "Please, be careful," she whispered to her as she touched the woman's back gently in a gesture much like a hug between the two.

"I will be," she nodded, then turned back to Sideswipe.

"Ready?" Sideswipe grinned, though it wasn't the grin of a mech who was happy, it was clearly the grin of a mech that had grown far too comfortable with danger and living in its wake.

"Let's roll."

Taking the woman into his hand, Sideswipe started back down the path they had entered by, but instead of climbing in the same little sliver of space that Illusory, Charlie, Arcee and Silverdust had come through, he kept on. It got very dark for several minutes, and Charlie could sense the mech having to twist and maneuver his frame in awkward ways to make it through, then, with a sharp turn there was light again as a large cave mouth opened up to a vast expanse of prairie land.

"Wow. This is amazing."

"What? You didn't think I could fit through that tiny crack of a hole that Arcee shimmied through, do you?" Once they were a few feet from the cave, Sideswipe set Charlie down and transformed, opening his door for her. "Let's find a road."

She rolled her eyes. "I meant the scenery." She strode quickly to keep up with his gait.

"Oh." Sideswipe chuckled. "Sunny's wearing off on me."

The red-head waved it off. "No worries."

Once they found a road, Sideswipe's tires kicked up dirt, and he sped off. It was going to be a long road trip, but Sideswipe was far less concerned about being spotted than Illusory had been. He had grown comfortable hiding in plain sight and so found the highways more comfortable. A few hours had passed before he pulled off at a small diner as he had promised Charlie he would. "Here ya go," he said happily. "Go, eat, chill for a few, then we'll get back at it."

"Absolutely." Charlie ran inside, eager for some 'real' food.

Sideswipe sat quietly in the parking lot, silently noting his bright red paint was now a dusty maroon color due to all the dirt plastered over his frame. It was probably a good thing. After all, what good would it be if someone saw his shiny fancy alt just hanging outside of a highway diner? What would Sunstreaker have said?

Charlie ordered something small careful to not eat up her account. She had a paycheck coming in the next few days, and with her impromptu road trip, it would be her last increase for a while.

Inside the diner, two men sat opposite each other grasping cold cups of half empty coffee. They looked defeated, but tense, as though they expected something horrible to happen at any second. They both glanced nervously around the diner at almost timed intervals, keeping watch for whatever it is they expected to find.

Charlie only glanced at them and frowned. Something about them nagged at her, but she couldn't place it. Noise from outside made her jump, taking her mind away from the two men. She looked out the window and saw a group of three young men in dirty shirts and baseball caps come inside. They looked like regulars, calling the waitress by name. "Yo, Sherry, three coffees, and burgers."

The older woman waved her acknowledgment over her shoulder as she tended to the pair in the corner.

The two men glared at the new arrivals but said nothing. These were just people being people.

After the boys had ordered, they started talking. "Sherry, you finally get that car you wanted? Looks sick!"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Not mine." She waved in Charlie's direction. The redhead was too busy eating hash browns to notice.  
"No, shit. What is she thirteen?" The three boys laughed loudly.

It caught Charlie's attention and both ears quickly turned red. Her hair had started to get greasy on the way over with Illusory, so she controlled it in two long braided tails. She always got carded at the movie theater despite her ID stating her twenty-three years. Charlie glanced over at the boys and shrugged. They laughed again.

"I bet she jacked it."

"Nah, man. She worked hard for it. Did everything Daddy said."

More laughter. Charlie groaned and rolled her eyes. She pushed the empty plate aside and went to the far end of the counter to pay for her food.

"Ah, come on. We're just kidding."

"We could show you how to drive it properly. You're wrecking that thing as it is."

"Stuff a sock in it." Charlie glared at them.

"Watch your mouth, bitch." The boy on the far right twisted his cap backward.

"Watch yours, Ash Ketchum." Charlie shook her head. As she exited the diner, she smiled and flipped them off.

They scrambled after her. "Hey, say that to my face!"

Immediately as the boys followed after the girl, both men that had been so nervous and defeated turned into experience hardened soldiers and they rushed after them.

"Hey," the larger of the two men called. He was around six foot two and very muscular; his clothes were clean and pressed. The other man was closer to five foot nine, and his clothing was dusty and a bit on the rumpled side of things, though he looked no less formidable than his companion.

"That's no way to talk to a young lady," the larger man finished as he grabbed one of the young men and hauled him back into the diner.

The lead teen grabbed Charlie's right arm. He immediately let go with a yelp.

"Damn it!"  
"What'd you do?" His remaining buddy asked.  
"She shocked me. It fucking hurt."

The smaller man shoved past the kid that had been hauled back in the diner and past the other teens to stand between them and the girl they were following.

"Leave her alone if you know what's good for you."

Sideswipe looked on with trepidation. Everything in him screamed to jump into the fight, kick the stupid kids off and take Charlie away, but if he did that then there were any number of alarms that could go off; how did he know someone here didn't know that his kind was currently being hunted? Or worse - one of the people hunting them? When the two men came to Charlie's aid, he only felt mildly relieved. Hopefully, these were just good people doing the right thing and not someone who knew something that would lead to more trouble for them in the long run.

"Just run on home, kid." Charlie held her head high and glared down at them.  
The two boys took one look at the man and hesitated. One of them slowly walked back into the diner.

The remaining boy stood his ground and squared his jaw. "I ain't afraid of you."

"You should be," the larger man growled as he came up behind the last boy. "We've seen and destroyed far worse than the likes of you."

He spun around, fear now registered. He screwed his face into a scowl and stalked off.  
Charlie watched the kid go, before taking a slow breath to calm her nerves. She nodded to the men and put her hand on Sideswipe's door. "Thank you."

"No problem, kid," the larger man said, his voice now pleasant and kind, "but if you don't mind me asking; what are you doing out here alone?"

"And in a car like that..." the smaller one added a note of disbelief in his voice.

"Just passing through." She paused a little too long. "It's my brother's. He told me to take care of it."

Instantly the smaller man turned on Charlie. "Is that so?"

Charlie pressed herself closer to Sideswipe. "Yes." She was only an inch shorter, but she kept her chin up.

The larger man stepped closer to the car, a look of contemplation on his face. "I've seen a car like this once."

A few tense seconds had passed before he shouted happily, jumping with excitement. "It's one of them!" He ran a quick hand over Sideswipe's hood, revealing his Autobot emblem. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you! Where's everyone else? Why are you with this girl?"

Charlie jumped at the outburst, and her fist shot out, punching the shorter man. Immediately she covered her mouth. "I'm sorry!"

"Ow," the shorter man grumbled. "Guessing you're not with him by accident?" He glanced from Charlie to the car behind her, one hand rubbing his now sore jaw.

"Who are you? How do you know,-" Charlie's eyes widened, and she threw her arms around the man's neck. "You're Ne-" she covered her mouth again and pulled away. "Come with us. Get in! Get in!" She shoved him toward Sideswipe.

It only took the mech a few kliks more to reach the same conclusion Charlie had and both his doors swung open to admit the three humans. Once inside the men looked far more relaxed than they had in the diner.

"I thought they got all you guys; you have no idea how good it is to see you. Sideswipe, right? I'm Rex," the larger man introduced himself, "and this is Keith. Who are you?" He turned to Charlie.

"I'm Charlie. What the hell happened?"

"I don't know," Rex admitted sadly. "Some soldiers stormed the base, they were aiming for the Autobots, but anything else seemed fair game to them, too. There were so many..."

"They were our guys, " Keith added angrily. "American trained!"

Charlie shook her head sadly. "Same goes for us. Soldiers just stormed our house. They took Scatterblade."

"Scatterblade? He's the one with a wife and kid, right? Undisclosed location in California? "

"Illusory and Silverdust are safe," Sideswipe assured them.

"Yeah. We were heading back to the house to see if we could find anything to go on."

"We'll go with you. Been here three days and haven't seen anyone til you guys."

"Thank you. You have a car?" She asked.

"Yeah, we got a truck parked in back," Keith said, reaching for the door handle.

"Get your gear and come with us. I'm not waiting on a slow human truck...besides, We'll be less noticeable if we're not making a convoy. " Sideswipe opened his doors to let the men go.

"Alright, " Rex agreed.

Charlie nodded and set herself up in the back seat. She checked her phone's battery. "I hope my room isn't obliterated. We could find my charger and emergency pack."

"If they just focused on Blade and Lu, the house should be fine," Sideswipe assured her.

"We were in the basement," Charlie said grimly.

"Oh..." Sideswipe suddenly sounded less hopeful.

A few minutes had passed before Rex and Keith rejoined them, and they were back on the road again.

Charlie jumped right into questions. Trying to piece together what happened. She even asked about anything odd in the days leading up to it.

"It started with a meeting...if you can imagine," Kieth started. "They called all the soldiers to a meeting and all the 'bots to a separate meeting. If it weren't for some of our guys, that hadn't heard the announcement..."

"We're not sure what happened, we missed out on the first part of it; we joined in when the 'bots started fighting back," Rex added.

"We saw what it was turning into," Sideswipe explained. "At first we were all just going to go like they said, we've gotten kind of used to listening to the humans' orders without too many questions, but it got suspicious quick. We couldn't comm between each other, couldn't reach the mechs out in the field...I think Dino was the first one to break rank and that's when they started shooting." The anger in Sideswipe's voice was apparent at how that had ended. "We started fighting back until we saw them gunning down NEST soldiers along with their efforts to take us down. Only reason you guys are riding with me instead of under my tires...NEST guys are still the good guys as far as I can tell."

"So many people died," Keith confirmed. "We couldn't abandon the 'bots we'd fought with for so long! None of us know where this all came from. At least, none of us on the lower end of the chain; I guess brass might have known..." The dismay in Keith's tone was thick. There had always been people in the higher ranks that didn't much care for the Autobots, no matter what the 'bots did to help the world they were currently residing on.

Charlie shuddered. "So, you haven't seen anyone?"

"No," Rex sighed. "We went to the diner hoping others might show - it was a place a lot of us liked to sneak off to in our off hours, it was risky, but we thought it was worth the chance."

"Guess it paid off for us," Keith said with a little bit of forced optimism. "You guys showed."

"Good thinking on Sides's part," Charlie nodded. "We could really use your help. We need to look for clues. Anything that could point us in their direction. We're getting Blade back."

"Wherever it leads," Rex growled, "we're in. They've gone too far."

"Besides," Keith added, "guy's got a family that needs him. Nobody's got the right to separate them."

Sideswipe chuckled darkly, "I like you guys. Glad, we found you."

Charlie nodded. "Thank you. You remember where to go, Sides?"

"Yeah," The mech poured on speed, using the night hours and his tarnished, dust covered paint to their advantage. He could have been a shadow on the highway for all anyone noticed his passing.

Charlie was too wired to sleep, but the inevitable crash came, and soon she succumbed.

Thanks to Sideswipe's rather careless disregard of things such as speed limits and laws, and his knack for avoiding enforcers and traps, they were crossing Colorado by the time the sun was rising.

Despite the rocky ride, Charlie slept on, only waking when they stopped to grab food and "bathe."

They finally arrived back at the beach-side home early that afternoon. It almost didn't look like the home Charlie had known. Some of the building was charred. The kitchen was black, and Charlie thought she could see the couch. Maybe. She climbed out of the car and walked toward the house. She couldn't see what happened to her room from this far away.

Rex and Keith followed Charlie toward the house; Sideswipe scanned the area as much as he could before transforming and following several feet behind, keeping an optic on the area around them for trouble.

"Oh, man," Keith groaned, "good thing you guys got out."

Charlie shook her head. She trudged on toward the hall climbing over downed support beams and what remained of walls - maybe the ceiling, it was hard to tell. A pool of water stretched down the corridor and into the bedroom. "Glad to see Red Alert's paranoia paid off." Sprinkler system. She had complained about the extra cost, but the bot had sworn up and down it would save her life one day. She supposed this was close enough.

"They really did a number on this place...how long did the fight go?" Rex moved something that might once have been a book of some type. Nothing much looked salvageable.

Charlie groaned as she looked at the book. "Honestly, it happened way too quickly. One minute we're just talking and then there's an explosion. Or two. I don't remember..."

"Happens," Keith assured her as he moved on. "Anything, in particular, you want us to find for you while we're looking around?"

Rex had already moved on, looking for clues as to what was used to cause this much destruction. Bullets alone should not have caused this. "Looks like they came in planning to destroy everything..." he noted as he kicked a pile of rubble that might have been a wall, or a ceiling at one point.

"There's a backpack, blue. It's- for emergencies."

"Alright," Keith started off in another direction while Rex continued where he had begun. Nothing here seemed right. Of course, none of any of this had seemed right.

Outside, Sideswipe searched for clues as to where Scatterblade was taken, but the days that had passed had worn away any tracks that they might have followed. He could clearly see where the mech had fought against the soldiers, and traces of armor that had splintered from him and Illusory as she made her escape. It all just made him angrier at the situation than he already was. What in the Pit had turned the humans against them like this? There had been no clear warning, nothing to show that they might be...well, there was Chicago. He vented angrily. That was the fault of the people that had exiled them in the first place; if they had just listened, then maybe it wouldn't have gotten that far.

Charlie sloshed through the bedroom. Her stuff was soaked or crushed by the beams of the ceiling. Plugged into the wall was her phone charger. Maybe it would still work after some TLC.

After some thorough investigation, Rex and Keith returned to the main area to wait for Charlie. Both men wore grim expressions.

She climbed back to the group the bag strapped to her back. "I found it! It's soggy and smells but..." her grin fell. "What's up?"

"This was professional, " Rex grumbled. "Military for sure."

"They wiped the place of anything we could link to the bots. Looks like they wanted to make sure they never came back here." Keith finished. "Let's get out of here," he continued after a deep breath of frustration.

Charlie looked back at the house. She was really glad Illusory hadn't been there to see this. She adjusted the pack and followed the men back to the road. Then she stopped. "Sides," she called, "Do you think you could check for footage? The cameras may have survived. My room was all water damage. That side of the house may still be okay."

Sideswipe accessed Red Alert's security system, looking for footage. He smiled as he realized how much the soldiers had underestimated the security mech's paranoia. The standard feed was erased, and so was the backup feed, but the redundancy feed was still safely tucked away where only Red Alert and those that knew how he worked would find it.

"Found some," he told them.

"Let's get it back to the others," Charlie said.

"They went out the same way they came in. Looks like they took the highway. Plates are military." Sideswipe vented with annoyance. "I should take this back to Jazz. He and Mirage would get more from it."

"It'll add more time, but it's our best bet," she agreed.

"Let's go then," Sideswipe agreed, though he took his time on the roads near the destroyed home, hoping they might spot something worth following. Charlie leaned back in the seat and rummaged through the blue backpack. The two men were mostly quiet, watching the road and thinking about all that had happened.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	4. Chapter 4

Just a quick note because I believe I missed it before: This story begins after TF3, heading into TF4. We DO NOT follow the story in the movie, instead focus more on around and background of what was going on otherwhere. This fic does move past the movie, but there are currently intentions to work TF5 into the plot line if possible.

* * *

~*~ Chapter Four ~*~

Day Five

Scatterblade's resolve to stare at the ceiling was short lived. He was all too aware of what this human was doing. A grin began to form on his faceplates as he thought back to the last time he had been held against his will. He had just finished exploring a good chunk of YouTube. He figured that he might as well make the same move now. Chances were it would be just as annoying now as it was then. As loud as his speakers could project he started playing a song.

 _I ain't happy_

 _I'm feeling glad_

 _I got sunshine in a bag_

 _I'm useless but not for long_

 _The future is coming on._

Hector jumped at the sudden blast of music. "Well," he chuckled. "Where did that come from?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Robots don't have playlists?"

"Playlist? I see. I suppose that's handy. AI personalities would need to develop interest. What else do you like?"

Scatterblade groaned. Well, that cut off the plan for Chumbawamba. "For the last time. I'm not AI." He offlined his optics. "You've been at this for joors. Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Why would I want to do anything else?" The scientist asked amused. "If you were not built or programmed how did you come to function?"

"Hold your horses. I'm not giving you the birds and bees. You certainly haven't earned it." He shuddered at the thought of explaining. Then he got back to his point. "Some of us like to recharge...you know, sleep?"

"Sleep? Hmm..." The man paused in his work. "I suppose it has been a long day." He sat back and stretched, joints cracking as he moved after so much time sitting in the same position. "Not as young as I used to be," he groaned.

Scatterblade grunted in response, simply glad that he would be alone for a while.

"You should shut down," Hector advised. "I'll be back in the morning."

"Uh huh."

Hector laughed to himself as he left the room. Whatever he may think about the validity of living or nonliving; the robot certainly had identifiable personality. "Goodnight, Robot."

The mech vented heavily. "Scatterblade," he relented.

"What was that?" Hector paused at the door.

"My name. It's not 'Robot'. It's Scatterblade."

"Name? Hmm, interesting. Okay, goodnight, Scatterblade."

He vented again. "Night." Then more music played, not as obnoxiously loud as before.

 _I get knocked down, but I get up again_

 _no, you're never gonna keep me down_

 _I get knocked down, but I get up again_

 _no, you're never gonna keep me down._

Hector observed the mechanical being for a few more minutes before turning off the lights and heading home.

The mech lay there listening to the music and checking up on the nanites. They were still replenishing. It would take most of the night and part of the day before he could put them to use again and correct this paralysis.

Hector returned the next day looking contemplative. Instead of diving right back into work he stood off to the side and studied Scatterblade.

"I am reluctant to admit a possibility besides AI that makes you seem alive," he admitted, "but for some reason, after last night I am unable to ignore the possibility. "

The mech raised a brow ridge. "Oh, gosh. Really?" His voice was flat.

"Well, with technology such as it is, it is not a far stretch to think there may be self-aware AI, but you mentioned reproduction that did not involve building. And you express fear, which I find astounding. What would be the purpose of giving an AI the ability to fear? "

"I don't know. To be able to balance risk." He stumbled over his words, "Not that I'm confirming anything. I'm not AI. Nothing artificial. Just 'cause I'm not organic..." he grumbled.

"That would counteract difficult decisions that could involve personal risk. Fear could cause an AI not to follow through where that option is the best choice. But, I suppose in some cases it might be beneficial." He sounded not too satisfied with that conclusion but went on anyway. "What about reproduction? Were you born? Do you have parents? Or does it only take one? Is it cloning or a mix of DNA like most organic reproduction?"

Scatterblade shuttered his optics. "You were actually thinking this through."

"That's what I do," the man pointed out. "Curiosity is man's greatest gift."

"Yes, it is." He was quiet for a moment. "If you help me sit up, I'll answer some of your questions."

Hector hardly hesitated before going back to the area he had been working in before. "I think I can do something about that." He remembered how certain processes worked and how some had seemed incomplete or severed. He started patching ones he recognized with mobility. "How's that?"

Scatterblade lifted his head. He vented as he sat up. He couldn't swing his legs off the table, but sitting was better than nothing.

"So?" The man encouraged as he came back to stand beside Scatterblade. He was still in a bit of awe watching the mech moving on his own.

"So," he repeated with a vent. "Reproduction. Ratchet's a lot better at this than I am. Basically, two sparks come together to make a third. It takes a femme- er female and a male. It hasn't been done in a long time." The man didn't need to know about his family. Not yet. Or not at all.

"Sparks?" He thought for a moment. "That light in your chest? "

"Yeah. It's like a heart. If it ever goes out, game over. For both of them." He stared down the man, looking past him.

"Both?"

"When the sparks join, they become one. Technically each partner still has their own spark, but it's linked. If one partner were to deactivate - die - the other would, too. It's not a smart thing to do with war raging around you."

"No wonder none of you have done it. That's hazardous. But then that means there are no offspring to continue your species."

"We live a lot longer than you'd think."

"I suppose that's true, but does that offset the population setback caused by war and no new generations for so long?"

He nodded. "It's been a long time already. I was one of the last. Not the last gen, but close to it. If I did the math right, I'm about two thousand, seven hundred and ninety of your years old. Give or take a few decades."

Hector was completely taken aback by the thought. "And you are one of the youngest? That's...impressive." He pondered for a while longer before he spoke again. "At what age do you begin thinking of reproduction?"

"Um...well, it...I don't really know. I can't talk for the others, but...It's...that's too awkward a question." He fumbled. "Same as you, I guess. Well, proportionally. To my reckoning, I've been around for thirty-four vorns. You do the math."

Hector nodded, "So that would put you past standard mating age if you were human. Not that it doesn't happen often."

Scatterblade shrugged. "I suppose."

"Doesn't that bother you?"

Scatterblade thought for a moment then grinned. "I figured you didn't buy into I'm not AI."

The man chuckled. "Clever. I would have expected a pre-programmed AI response to say 'yes' or a more efficient standard AI response to be 'no.' This is interesting."

"Like I said before, it isn't really an option. It's nice to reminisce but why think about what you can't have?"

Hector nodded, carrying on the conversation with question after question. He was fascinated by the prospect of sentient robots, and he wanted to learn as much as possible.

Scatterblade talked with Hector most of the day. He kept finding himself offering answers where the man hadn't asked. He had to stop himself several times in tangents, so he didn't give Illusory, their sparkling, or Charlie away. He wasn't sure why he was so free with answers. Maybe it was just because it was better than being paralyzed, or maybe he was putting off the scientist entering his wires again.

Sideswipe was tired. The trek across the country both directions in such a short time was wearing on him, not to mention there was a lack of energon to refuel with at the moment. He longed for his high-grade stores that had likely been destroyed back at base when the soldiers had come. With a soft vent, he slowed his pace and turned to the large mouth of the cave where the others were hiding. He sent one last sensor sweep out searching for anyone that might see him, then slipped to the side to let his passengers out.

Charlie exited the vehicle quickly and waited in the shadows. The sun was setting, and the heat radiated off the packed Earth. Rex and Keith joined her. They looked uncomfortable as they searched nervously around; resuming the edgy appearance they had in the diner.

"Something feels off," Keith said.

"I'm not getting anything on my scanners," Sideswipe said, though he sounded as though there was a large unspoken 'but' in his tone.

"Let's move quickly. You guys are making me nervous." The red-head slipped in the cave. The two men followed her quickly, Sideswipe only pausing for another look before following the humans inside. He turned on his headlights to help the humans see their way, helping them through places that were too difficult until they had reached the central space where the others were hiding away.

Illusory immediately leaped to her feet and rushed over to Charlie, eyeing the two men that came with her. "Who are they?" She demanded harshly, tucking her sparkling safely behind her.

"They're NEST," Charlie reassured.

The femme didn't look very assured, but she did not press the issue further.

Sideswipe went to Jazz, sending him the data he had salvaged. "It's not much," he admitted.

"Better than nothin'," the smaller mech said with a pleased tone.

"The house was destroyed?" Illusory asked sadly knowing the place that had been her first home in longer than she could remember was gone.

"We might have a few walls to rebuild on," Charlie shrugged with optimism.

Illusory smiled, though it was weak. "At least you did not find trouble. "

Charlie nodded. "Do we have a heading?" She asked Jazz.

"Ah'm doin' some cross referencin', but from what I can tell; they went north." There was a slight growl to his voice as he spoke, clearly not pleased with what he had seen.

Charlie settled against the wall transferring the stolen goods to the blue backpack, a thoughtful expression on her face.

All was silent. When Illusory thought back on it later she would believe that it had been the quietest moment she remembered since coming to the hideaway. Then everything erupted in fire as soldiers poured in from the direction everyone had been coming and going. Illusory snatched up Charlie and Silverdust and rushed into the darkness at the back of the cave while Sideswipe and Jazz ran forward. Arcee held her ground, trying to get a message to Mirage who was on patrol. Rex and Keith let training take over, and they joined in the fight working in tandem with the 'bots.

Charlie ducked her head as she was carried. "Lu put me down."

The femme hesitated while she looked for an escape. "Why?"

"I can help."

"How?" She was still searching, her spark quickly filling with terror.

"I let Wheeljack make some modifications to my arm," she said almost guiltily, slipping off the silicone glove and in a quick movement her right hand shifted. A weapon not unlike a nine-millimeter handgun. From her bag, she grabbed a magazine and loaded it.

Illusory almost dropped Charlie as she saw what her friend had done. "You let him weaponize you?" She sounded hurt as she let the woman down.

"You think after the pretender thing and your capture; I'd let myself be useless?"

An expression of anger crossed the femme's face, but she nodded and let Charlie go. "Do not get yourself killed," she murmured as she resumed her search for an escape.

She found a small alcove that was big enough for Silverdust that would keep the small femme protected from the fighting and keep her out of easy reach by any humans. If the sparkling stayed quiet, no one would even know she was there. Silverdust made a sound of displeasure at being left alone, but when Illusory gave her a stern look and pulsed safe feelings through their bond, she settled down and waited for her femme creator to return.

Charlie ducked down taking cover behind some rocks and opened fire, the semi-automatic weapon peppering the men she aimed for.

The small space allowed in the cave was the only thing truly benefiting the 'bots and people hiding within, the soldiers were having a difficult time swarming through the narrow entrance so only a few at a time could enter.

Charlie focused her fire on the incoming men. If she could just clog the entrance, they could find another way out. It would be a terrible fit for the mechs, but if Arcee and Jazz could get out the original way Illusory and Charlie had come in, they could surround the intruders from behind.

Illusory spotted a way to climb the walls that the 'bots could easily manage, but the small gap above wouldn't be large enough for any of the 'bots to get through. She looked over the small group; Sideswipe was exhausted, and it showed, Jazz was far from one hundred percent. Also, she suspected he was hiding an injury by the way he moved. Arcee was doing her best to make up for their lag, but it wasn't going to last long, Illusory knew. Wherever Mirage was, she doubted even his help would save this small group of misfits against humans that had come prepared to fight them. The few humans on their side wouldn't survive if the 'bots fell. They might not survive any way she realized as she spotted blood covering one of the men that had come back with Charlie and Sideswipe.

Her optics quickly went to Charlie shooting at the soldiers - her own species in the name of her friends - and then finally to her sparkling hiding in the dark alcove, frightened but trusting in Illusory to protect her. With determination the femme climbed the wall and started yanking stones and dirt out of the way, making room for them to escape. She was only protected from the sight - and likewise shots - of the invading soldiers due to the darkness that surrounded her at the back of the cave. However, as soon as she broke through the light would give her away. It didn't matter, she decided. If she did nothing, they were all as good as offline.

Charlie continued to fire ducking down only to reload. She tried to keep an eye out for Rex and Keith. No need for friendly fire.

With a loud crack, Illusory dislodged the last bolder that would allow even Sideswipe to escape. "This way!" She called, climbing down double time to get Charlie and Silverdust.

"Go!" Sideswipe shouted, "I'll hold them back!"

The redhead hurried to the exit. "Rex! Keith!"

The two men rushed in Illusory's direction, Jazz and Arcee falling back along with them. Illusory grabbed Silverdust first, then Charlie as she came into reach then climbed back up the wall, shoving Charlie through the opening first, then Silverdust behind her. "Follow Charlie," she instructed the sparkling. "Run! Both of you! We'll be right behind you!"

A moment later Arcee was poised behind Illusory, Jazz behind her and they handed up the other two humans. Illusory pushed Rex through, and as she was shoving Kieth through the opening, one of the human soldiers got a lucky hit past Sideswipe. It slammed into Illusory's back, close to the arm that was supporting her and she lost her grip, only just managing to shove Keith far enough he did not fall with her.

Arcee tucked close to the rock to avoid being dragged down with the other femme, knowing she could do nothing to help her. Jazz reached out, grabbing for Illusory as she slipped, but his reach wasn't far enough. The femme was preparing herself for the hard crash when she found herself slammed into the wall once more.

"Grab on!" She heard someone growl in her audial. She struggled to do as she was told, her left arm completely useless to her now. She glanced up to see Mirage shimmering out of nothingness hanging from the opening precariously by fingers and toes, one hand gripping the armor on her back to hold her against the wall, though the strain on him was evident he did not let go until he was sure she was holding on.

Charlie corralled the sparkling to the far wall of the cresting hill outside of the cave. She scanned the horizon and only checked over her shoulder to see the NEST boys made it up. When Mirage appeared, she kept Silverdust back and waved Rex and Keith over.

Arcee slid past Illusory, then reached back to help Mirage pull the injured femme out. Jazz stayed behind her to catch her if they lost their grip. Once she was out, he shouted for Sideswipe to move, covering the front-liner's escape.

Once they were all out, Jazz ran to where Charlie had taken Silverdust and transformed. "Get in!" He ordered as his doors flung open.

The woman gently pulled the sparkling inside and buckled her in.

Jazz hardly waited for them to get in, his doors slammed shut, and he sped off casting a scanner back to see that the other humans were being looked after and that someone was helping Illusory. The injured femme transformed with a stifled scream and drove after the mech holding her friend and sparkling. Arcee kept close to her while Mirage sped ahead and Sideswipe guarded the rear. They had emerged far from the mouth of the cave, and even quite some distance from the thin sliver that Arcee had led the others through before. They had a head start on the soldiers, but if they didn't keep moving that wouldn't last long.

Charlie emptied her weapon and put her arm to rights. She smacked her forehead with her left hand, grunting, "..stupid..stupid.."

"What?" Jazz asked, his voice a little stressed but trying to take on his general note of levity. "Leave th' stove on?"

"No. I should have told you to move. I should have known that was way too easy!" She hit her head one last time.

"Ya couldn't uh known," he assured her. "If anythin' we shoulda seen it comin'."

Charlie shook her head but remained quiet.

Jazz drove on for several minutes before he tried speaking again. The terrain was rough, and they didn't dare take to the roads until they were much further from where they had been attacked.

"Charlie," he started once they hit smooth roads, "don't blame yerself. Sideswipe couldn't even detect 'em with his scans; they planned this. Ya couldn't uh known they'd have done it. Besides, we all got away, and we'll be okay. Just gotta find uh new place ta hole up."

"What if we can't? You can't keep running like this. Sides was exhausted when we got back. What happens if you guys run out?" She wrapped her arms around herself, the metal hand gently gripping her opposite elbow.

"We've been through harder times before. We'll survive."

She sighed then looked out the back windshield. She spotted Illusory's alt form in the dark.

Silverdust was nearly plastered to the back window watching her femme creator trailing after them. Illusory's once white frame was now dust-colored aside from where energon had splashed over her armor before her systems could stop the flow; dirt clung dark and odd colored against her. She showed no indication of falling behind, but the fact that she was flanked by Arcee on one side and Mirage on the other as much as they could manage made her weaving noticeable. Sideswipe was much further behind.

Charlie sighed, looking for another subject. "Should we go north or get farther south?"

"Well, they'd probably expect us ta go south, try ta leave th' country ta get away from 'em. Don't know if they know we know where they took 'Blade...so they might not expect us ta go north, especially not ta go after 'im."

Charlie nodded. "Let's get to Blade as quickly as we can."

"Done," the mech agreed, setting a course.

Charlie tried to ease Silverdust as much as possible.

They had traveled for quite some time before Jazz pulled off the road onto a rarely used drive. A few miles down was an old disused farm house. "This'll do fer uh break, " he stated, coming to a stop. It was only a few minutes more before they were all there, worn out but functional.

Charlie climbed out helping Silverdust back to her mother.

Illusory transformed slowly, growling softly as she did, but as soon as she was able took her sparkling into her arm and held her close.

Arcee came up behind her, gently prodding at the broken armor. "Nothing serious, " she diagnosed. "It will hurt for a while, but your self-repair should take care of it."

Charlie winced but didn't say anything.

"Where are we going, " Illusory finally asked, still holding Silverdust who was now soundly in recharge.

"Following them to 'Blade. Well, maybe not following them, but going to get him."

The femme vented with relief. "Good."

Mirage returned from a short scout of the area, a look disapproval on his face as he looked over the group. "You should all get some rest. I will take first watch."

Charlie nodded and walked toward Rex and Keith. "Are you alright?"

Rex was checking hastily made bandages on Kieth's side.

"I'll survive," the smaller man assured her.

"Could do with an infirmary," Rex grumbled but did not seem too stressed. "What about you?" He asked looking Charlie over.

She grabbed her right arm with her left. "I'll be fine."

The men nodded, giving their approval of the woman suddenly turned fighter.

"You did good back there," Keith said warmly.

"I have been practicing," she beamed.

"Glad we have you on our side," Rex agreed. "You should find a place to rest for the time being. It's probably going to get rough."

Charlie nodded her smile dropping. "You, too."

The men nodded, taking a while longer before they sought out a place to rest.

The farmhouse was stable enough despite its state of disuse and provided suitable shelter for the tired humans.

Arcee found a place close to the house where she was easily out of sight and settled herself down, going into a soft recharge.

Mirage set off again, keeping his word of the first watch.

Sideswipe didn't even bother with transforming, barely taking the time to find a spot where he was out of the way before dropping into a much-needed recharge.

Jazz transformed and turned to Illusory who hadn't moved since gathering up her sparkling. "Ya need ta recharge," he pointed out, though his frame language seemed to say he was willing to talk if she chose to.

"Ah don't think Ah can," she admitted softly. "What if they followed us?"

"Eh," the small mech shrugged, glancing around as if to assure himself the soldiers weren't closing in on them as they spoke. "They probably will," he said finally. "We've got uh good lead on 'em but if ya don't recharge some that'll change. Can't be draggin' yer wheels if we're gonna stay ahead of 'em." He looked at the tiny sparkling tucked against her chest. "We're gonna be okay, Lu," he promised. "Come on."

He guided the femme to the cover of some trees and helped her get comfortable before settling himself beside her; offering what comfort he could. It wasn't long before she was drifting somewhere between online and recharge. 'Blade, we're coming,' she called to him before letting herself fall into a fitful recharge.

Scatterblade was in recharge when he felt his femme call. He woke to it, sitting up in a daze with scans searching for her until his processor caught up to him. It took another moment to register what she had said. He sent back warm waves to her. It wasn't that he didn't believe her, he knew not to get too antsy waiting for a rescue. The anticipation and disappointment with each passing moment that the rescue didn't come could be worse than the capture itself.

Hector was flustered when he entered the room that morning, grumbling to himself about young know-it-all's and their disrespect for proper research. He didn't even greet Scatterblade as he had started doing upon his arrival.

Scatterblade ran a few cycles of air through his vents. He cocked his head at the man. "What's got your wires crossed?"

The man glanced at Scatterblade but said nothing. He kept moving about doing his job with a clipped professionalism that had lagged over the past few days.

Scatterblade tensed. He wished the nanites weren't being so rushed. This agitation made him want his legs back.

Hector hustled about for quite some time before he threw the tablet he had been using down on the table with a frustrated curse. "You have to get out of here," he growled, still not looking at Scatterblade. "They want your frame disassembled. I told them we could learn so much more from talking; you've proven that theory, but they don't care! Politics! Always getting in the way of proper research! "

The mech snapped to attention. Scatterblade rerouted his internal med-kit once more. "How?" Scatterblade never knew how much he missed orders.

"Tonight, after the facility shuts down there are fewer soldiers on guard here. You'll have limited options due to your size; there's only one large hall in or out of here. I can only wish you luck...I'll likely be fired after this shift. The boss wasn't happy I argued with him." He sighed.

Scatterblade shuttered his optics. "I can't thank you enough."

"Don't thank me," the man grumbled. "I'm just doing what's right. "

Scatterblade grinned. "Anyway, you can reconnect my legs? How many obstacles are there before and after the hall?"

Hector finally looked at the mech, his expression pure frustration. "I'll do what I can for your legs." He picked up his tablet and went to Scatterblade. "There will be soldiers in the hall past this room. Cameras. I don't know what else. I'm a scientist; I don't understand security very well."

"You've been more than helpful. I got it from here."

"Good luck," the man patted the mech's armor. "I'll miss talking to you." He made a few more adjustments then stepped back. "Can you test without moving? If they catch wind, then we'll both be in deep trouble. "

The mech shuttered one optic and wiggled his feet. "That did the trick."

"Good. Now, business as usual. " Hector went about doing as he had always done, asking questions but not nearly as many as before.

The mech lay still taking the time to relax and rest the nanites. If he didn't get out on the first try, he would definitely need it later.

'Lu,' he called gently. 'See you soon.'

Illusory took the promise as his acceptance that they would reach him in time. She was relieved to hear him in her spark again. At least he was able to do that, whatever else might be wrong, he was still there. Illusory had tried to recharge, but she found that even with how tired she felt and the wound on her back still ebbing her energy away, she just couldn't keep the thoughts made of nightmares that had become her life away long enough to get any real rest. Instead, she leaned against the farmhouse the humans were sleeping in and watched the sky, holding Silverdust tight against her.

The farmhouse was warm with the others there. Charlie kept rolling; the floor was terribly uncomfortable, and the dust was bothering her nose. She woke after rolling for the fifth time some four hours into sleeping, stretching as she sat up.

As Charlie looked over the room, a blinking light caught her eye flashing from her backpack. She opened the bag and spotted the culprit; her phone, her mother's picture smiled up at her.

Charlie panicked for several seconds. Should she answer? Should she hit _end_? What was she supposed to tell her mom? _Oh, hi, sorry I haven't been in contact in a week. I'm alive, don't know how long it'll last because the government's after my friends so, yeah, just treat this like I'm on vacation._ Uh, no, just tell her you're on a road trip.

Her thumb hovered over the green button.

She groaned and scrambled to her feet. She opened the call with a fake chipper, "Hi, Mom."

"Charlie! Why haven't you been answering? Where have you been?"

"You called me?" She looked down at the phone and did see the phone icon with a red arrow bouncing off of it. "I'm sorry. My phone was on vibrate."  
"You're not hurt are you?"

"No, Mom, I'm fine. I'm just...on a road trip." That was the worst excuse ever. True, but still bad.

"Charlie, please don't lie to me," her mother's voice was strained and high with anxiety.

"What do you mean?"

"Your house is gone. I've been so worried. I hadn't seen you at Sunday dinner and every time I thought about you; my stomach was in knots. Now, I find out that your house was attacked! Charlie, please tell me you're okay!"

Panic rose in her chest, "Mom. S-Slow down. What do you mean the house was attacked?"

"By those transformers."

Charlie's body went cold. "A what?" Her mind began racing.

"Charlie, I swear, you have got to get your head out of the clouds and read the news once in awhile," Lisa snapped. "Chicago was attacked by these...aliens - everyone's calling them Transformers. They destroyed half the city. Hundreds of people died! Then some men come to our door and tell us two of them were hiding under your house."

Charlie's head spun, and she leaned against the wall for support. "Mom, I have no idea what you're talking about." Her words were quick and automatic.

"Charlie, they're saying you were abducted."

"I'm fine," she snapped. "They're not dangerous-" she cut herself off. "Mom, I have to go. I need you to know that I'm safe and that I love you. I'll see you all soon."

Her mother protested, but Charlie slid the end button over. Tears hit her eyes, and she ripped off the case of her phone and pulled the back away, the battery quickly following. She pocketed the pieces as she slid down the wall, her legs felt cold and numb.

"Charlie?" Illusory tried not to listen in on her friend's conversations but Charlie's softly spoken words drifting through the thin walls of the farmhouse raised suspicions in the femme. "Are you okay?" Whoever had called had upset her friend, and after everything else they had all been through, Illusory didn't want there to be something else to bother Charlie.

The woman jumped at her name but hurried to her feet and rushed out of the house to the femme. Wrapped her arms around Illusory's leg she tried hard to catch her breath. "They all know. You aren't a secret anymore," she said finally.

Illusory felt her spark stutter, everything inside her turning cold as ice. If the whole world was hunting them... "Charlie, Ah'm so sorry," she spoke with trembling words. Charlie would never be safe if they thought she had anything to do with them. What were they going to do? "Yer in this because of me, an' Ah'm so sorry. You'll never be safe..."

"Me? I'm all right," she laughed through the tears. "Most they'll do to me is put me in prison for treason. They're after you. They won't stop." She took a breath to swallow her fear. "And I'm not gonna let them take my family."

Illusory made an odd sound, something between a laugh and a groan. "Together then," she promised. "We will protect each other."

Charlie nodded a big smile on her face. She took a deep breath and nodded again.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	5. Chapter 5

~*~ Chapter Five ~*~

Day Nine

The night went by slowly, Mirage returned, and Jazz took the next shift; then when he came back, Arcee took the one after him. It was a little after sunrise when the femme returned, and they deemed it time to move on.

Charlie's dreams had been one capture scenario after another. She woke and stayed in a daze for a good hour into their travel. She rode with Rex and Keith to confirm what her mother had said.

"So, this all started with Chicago?"

"It started when the government thought it would be a good idea to exile the Autobots," Keith stated angrily.

Charlie's head grew light, and she leaned back into the seat. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"No," Rex muttered. "And they went...well, most of them anyway. The whole thing was a big fiasco. Then everything got worse; Chicago happened, now this."

"Did they arrest them right there? After they just saved their afts?" Charlie snapped, rubbing her face with her hands. "So, no one has heard from Prime or Ratchet or the others?"

"It wasn't right away, but it was a pretty close thing. The dust hadn't even settled. We haven't heard from anyone," Keith answered.

"Yeah, that's why we were waiting at the diner," Rex added.

"Nothing on our end either," Jazz added.

Charlie rubbed her neck staring at the dashboard intently. "Maybe we can get 'Blade to open communications. I can ask 'Lu to have 'Blade look for the block."

"Think he could?" Kieth asked.

"Hopefully it's as simple as a knocking out a tower?" She shrugged. "He's on the inside. It's the closest we have right now to getting comms back online."

"Better than nothin'," Jazz agreed. "Let's give it a try."

"Next time we stop. I don't think we should be out in the open for much longer." Charlie shifted in her seat and started fingering her seatbelt.

"Yeah, I could use a stretch, " Keith added.

Jazz consented and led them on a while longer before pulling off in a quiet little town.

Charlie climbed out and hurried over to Illusory. "Hey, can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything, " the femme muttered.

"Can you ask 'Blade to look for what's blocking your comms? Odds are that they took him to where it's happening. If he could find what's messing with your frequencies, we might be able to get everyone some place safe."

"I will ask, but I cannot say how much he may be able to do..." her fear for him leaked into her voice. 'Blade? Can you hear me?'

'I'm here, 'Lu,' he soothed.

'Are you able to see anything? Possibly a device that is blocking comms? Charlie thinks that they may have taken you wherever that thing might be. We can take it out when we get there; maybe we can even find some of the others then.'

Scatterblade grinned. 'Why didn't I think of that? Thank Primus for Charlie. Give me a breem.'

The mech turned his head. "Hey, want to do some recon for me?" he asked Hector.

"Recon? You really are a soldier, aren't you?" Hector laughed. The hours spent following the delivery of his warning eased the man's grim temper quite a bit. "What is it you would like me to find?"

"I'm thinking that you guys are blocking our comms. We need those systems back online or at least remove the blocks on the frequency. You don't have to take care of it. Just let me know where it is."

"Hmm, sounds like something they'd do." He thought it over for a while before looking around the room. "It'd probably be in here, or next door in the security center. There's a tower outside, wonder if that's where they broadcast from."

The mech grunted. "You should not be here when I leave," he warned. "Oh, and do you know where they took my swords?"

"Um...salvaged parts most likely. That's in the unit across from here." He sighed, "As for not being here...well, I'm not off for another three hours."

"I'm sure I'll be okay. Time is all I've got right now. The klik-er, minute I have to move, I don't think they'll let me stop. I've got to conserve as much as I can," he explained.

"Sounds like you know what you're doing," Hector said as he went back to work. "Let me know if I can do anything else. "

Scatterblade nodded. "Thanks, again."

"Told you, don't thank me. I'm doing what I think is right. And getting to spite the political puppets a bit as a bonus."

"Does anyone understand it from my side?" Scatterblade wondered.

"Who knows," Hector said bitterly. "They apparently don't care about what they can learn by talking. "

"You know that saying, 'man fears what he doesn't understand'? It applies to us, too." Scatterblade was silent for a moment before sending Illusory a warm embrace. 'I have some possibilities.' He explained the layout of the building as he'd seen it and as Hector had described to the best of his ability.

'Thank you,' she was relieved that he was able to get any information at all. The amount he gave her was above and beyond in her processor. She shared the information with the others, suddenly eager to be on the road again.

"I'm so glad you're bonded," Charlie sighed in relief.

"I am too," the femme agreed.

The group traveled on, finding themselves going far north, they started following Illusory's bond when they no longer had a clear direction.

Hector's shift ended, and Scatterblade said his goodbye's. "When all of this is over, if we all survive this, maybe I'll look ya up. We'll keep talking."

"I would like that very much," the man said wistfully. "Take care, Scatterblade. You've opened my mind a bit more."

He nodded with a smile. "Maybe show you my little femme," he whispered with a wink.

Hector paused at the door, once more shocked by this mechanical being. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he knew here and now was not safe.

"Dr. Salazar," a deep voice rumbled from within the hallway, "we are here to escort you off the property. "

"Hmm, I knew it was my last shift," he grumbled.

Scatterblade watched him go with a little sadness. He had come to like the quirky man.

Waiting was never easy, but he opted to bide some time to ensure the night shift was in full swing before he made his move. Scanning the outside rooms he searched for the source of the comm jam. He couldn't be positive, but if he did enough damage to the tower, it might even cut their communications for a time. After a third scan, he found his swords. He vented several times to keep his systems cool. A few more breems and he'd leave a gaping hole behind him.

Scatterblade scanned the building once more late into the night. There weren't too many people left. Cameras were still active. He grunted as he set up a loop for the feed - thank you wireless connections. Swiftly climbing to his feet, he double checked his radar and began moving. The large double doors were a tight fit, but he was able to reach through and grab his weapons. Once they were secured in his wrists, he looked down the hall. One good shot to the doors ahead at ramming speed and he could shoot the tower and communications building on his way out. He transformed quietly then gunned it down the hallway.

There were a few shouts as soldiers saw the car racing down the halls and a few minutes later the alarms were blaring. Though there weren't as many soldiers, they still seemed to come from everywhere, firing at Scatterblade.

With cannons at the ready, he fired back and shot his way out. The main exit exploded, and when he cleared the hall, he hurried to his feet, targeted the tower and building just beyond. He ran through the snow, automatically closing his vents to conserve heat. The mech launched his volley and watched the building go up. "How do you like that?" He laughed jumping over vehicles and returning fire.

There were more shouts as the tower fell, the soldiers started concentrating their fire. "Take it down! " somebody shouted.

Scatterblade ran ducking fire and shooting back. He tried the comms. ::Any Autobots listening, please respond.:: _Please, Primus, let this work_.

::This is Jazz,:: the mech replied eagerly, ::who's this and how'd ya get through?:: He suspected but had to be sure.

::Jazz!:: he laughed with relief. ::Really good to hear ya. It's Blade. I took out the comm interference. I'm sending you my coordinates. Could really use some back-up.::

::We're already en route, mech! Been following Lu.:: He checked the coordinates, a little dismayed by the distance. ::We're still uh ways off...hold on.::

::Will do.:: He sent his excitement to Illusory. 'Lu, I'm coming. I'm holding out. I'm coming to you.'

::Just got word from 'Blade,:: Jazz announced over comms, ::he took down the tower, comms are back up. Here's the location, let's get there asap!:: Everyone poured on all the speed they could, knowing they only had a little time to get there.

'See you soon, my love,' the femme responded. She could not wait to have her mate by her side once more.

Charlie whooped at the good news, throwing her arms around the nearest soldier. Rex took the affection easily, patting her back in return.

"Don't be too excited, " Keith suggested, "we're heading into a fight we may not win."

Charlie composed herself with a tug of a grin. "I'm jumping at every victory we get. No matter how small."

Scatterblade tried once to speed away in his alt mode, but this place was in the middle of nowhere with snow solidly up to his ankles and trees surrounding the clearing with many deep drifts everywhere. The only road in and out was guarded and blocked. He wasn't going to get anywhere in his alt mode, so he got back to his feet and pushed on.

The soldiers on base quickly recognized his disadvantage and swarmed, using weapons to turn the mech toward the deeper snow.

Scatterblade trudged through, the softer powder slowing him. A few times he was able to find footing on harder snow and leap forward, but then the heavy artillery joined in. The mech stumbled as the volley hit him, tearing through his torso and feet. He spun, ducking behind a front of trees for protection but the pain blinded him. He remembered calling out over the comms before the pain and cold overwhelmed him.

A ceasefire was called and the order given to take the mech back inside, to the basement this time. The director of the facility watched from inside the building, a hand rubbing his jaw in thought. "I want the footage from the specimen room," he said curtly, not turning to the uniformed soldier.

The soldiers cleared a path through the snow back to the compound. It took about an hour to properly chain the 'bot to the truck and haul him. Scatterblade drifted in and out of consciousness the whole time, once slapping a man away and kicking another. An angered soldier pulled his weapon bent on destroying the alien, but his higher-ups ordered him to stand down. They dragged him back inside, down a freight elevator and a long corridor. Scatterblade finally fell into emergency stasis, the sound of the vehicle towing him and noise of his frame scraping on cement echoing in his audials.

"No!" Illusory screamed out loud. 'Blade?' She reached for him through their bond, throwing everything that she had into going faster.

::Lu, slow down!:: Jazz warned. The roads were slick, covered in ice and snow and no matter their skill and know-how, it was still dangerous.

The femme didn't listen; she just kept going.

Sideswipe pulled up from the rear and went after her, Mirage close behind. Jazz went as fast as he dared while carrying passengers and Arcee stayed near him, her alt not giving much edge in the snow.

"Lu, stop! You've got Silver. Be careful!" Charlie snapped.

Illusory paid no attention to the calls from any of the others, Charlie included. She could only imagine Scatterblade being deactivated, and the fact that if he did so would she and, most likely, so would their sparkling. Silverdust was too young to survive without her creators, and Illusory couldn't handle it. If she deactivated herself trying to save her mate, then it was just as good as not getting there in time as far as she was concerned.

As the femme rushed on, snow began to fall, then became so thick she could not see through it. Her sensors were nearly useless, and soon enough she couldn't tell if she was even on the road any longer, but she kept moving anyway, following the dimming sense of her mate through their bond.

Jazz noted the heavy snowfall with building anxiety. ::Tell meh one of ya caught her,:: he demanded hoping comms would at least still go through.

::No.:: Sideswipe replied, ::Lost her signal, can't see her white armor in the white snow, and she's not responding to comms!:: The mech was growing more frustrated by the klik.

Mirage spoke up a few minutes later. ::We are not going to find her in this storm.::

Charlie rubbed down the window with her hand. "We can't follow her. We need to stop."

Jazz reluctantly agreed, calling the others back he found a truck stop where the humans could see to their needs and the 'bots could huddle against the building to avoid being completely covered in snow.

Charlie sat next to the window looking out across the snow. "Please come back, Lu," she murmured. She wrapped her arms around herself, picking at the glove over her right arm. "You were right, Keith," she murmured, "I feel stupid, now."

"Don't, " the man sighed. "It's never wrong to be happy about good news...unfortunately it makes bad news so much harder. We've kind of gotten used to it."

The woman grunted in reply. "I just wish I could do more. You're at least trained to handle combat."

"What more could you do?" Rex pointed out. "As you said, we are trained for it and here we are doing nothing." He sounded pretty frustrated by it all.

"Sorry," she murmured. "What I don't get is where did they go? I mean were they all taken? Or worse?" Her voice was small and tired.

"Hopefully they found a place to hide," Rex said with little real hope.

The storm raged on through the night and into the long day. When it finally let up some they moved out again; Jazz started calling for anyone who could hear him. ::Lu, Ah know you're out there, answer meh.:: he waited for a few kliks before trying again. ::Lu? 'Blade? Someone?::

"Can you look for her signature? Do your scans reach that far?" Charlie was thoroughly out of ideas.

"Scanning," he promised. "Gotta hope we get inta range."

She nodded with a heavy sigh. There was absolutely nothing she could do to help find Illusory; she knew she really needed to leave it to the 'bots. "I'm annoying myself. I'm going to rest."

It was Sideswipe farther ahead that reported Illusory's signature nearly two hours later. ::Good news; she's functional, bad news; she's not answering me and...it looks like she's on the compound somewhere.::

"Can we get to her?" Charlie asked.

::Maybe,:: Sideswipe said doubtfully, ::but probably not without alerting everyone there.::

Charlie rubbed her head with both hands. "I can go look for her. Steer her back to us."

"Not alone ya won't," Jazz argued.

"We'll go with her," Rex stated. It wasn't a question that they would gladly look for the femme, or that they would help Charlie.

Charlie set a smile on her face. "We'll find her. Bring her back."

"It hardly seems appropriate to send humans to look for her in such a dangerous place," Mirage pointed out.

"We've been to war alongside you mechs, I think we can handle some infiltration around our own kind," Keith assured them with a smile. "Let's go acquire ourselves some transportation and seek a crazed alien wife and mother."

"Seems that's something intergalactically factual: women are crazy where family is involved," Rex added with a playful nudge to Charlie.

She forced back a grin. "Ha ha." She searched her backpack one more time. "Yeah. I didn't pack for the snow. We should head back to that gas station, see if we can't get some warm clothes and a ride."

Jazz finally agreed and returned the humans to another truck stop. "Ya don't have ta do this," he offered hesitantly. "We can get her back..." though he didn't sound sure.

"We'll be in and out, Jazz." Charlie gave him a determined nod, her jaw set.

"Doesn't mean Ah have ta like it." He was quiet for a minute while the humans prepared to move on, leaving the 'bots behind. "Thanks," he said finally, his normal cheer returned to his voice along with deep sincerity. "For stickin' with us. Means uh lot ta all of us."

Charlie smiled. "Like Rex said, girl's gotta protect her family."

"Right," Jazz agreed.

"Just remember," Sideswipe added, his engine grumbling with his dissatisfaction over doing nothing at all while the humans found the femme and brought her back safely...hopefully, "it goes both ways."

"Yeah." Charlie drew in a deep breath. "We'll be back before you know it."

Keith set out to find transportation for the three of them while Rex went with Charlie inside to gather what they needed.

With her emergency cash, Charlie bought some gloves and scarfs. They didn't have jackets on the sparse shelves. When they walked outside, Charlie racked her brain.

Many trucks were stopped due to the bad weather, and she couldn't prevent herself from looking for a flaming Peterbilt. At the far end sat a trailer camper, hauled by a large truck. _With our luck, that wouldn't be Ironhide and Lennox_ , she thought. _But..._

"How well do you know lockpicking?" she asked Rex.

The man scowled before huffing out a heavy sigh. "I'm sufficient, I guess." Considering what they were trying to do, and the means they had to reach ends, he had to accept that they were going to have to cut some corners. "Let's make it quick."

"Don't worry about looking for pants, just grab three jackets and go," Charlie instructed shoving a fifty into his hands, "Leave that."

"Right," he agreed, trotting over to the vehicle. It took him a few seconds to pop the lock on the camper and slip inside.

Charlie watched the truck carefully, only distracted by the white puff that hit the air as she breathed.

It wasn't five minutes when Rex was slipping back out of the camper, locking it behind himself as he went; a bag slung over his shoulder. Just as he reached Charlie, a brown Chevy Trailblazer pulled up in front of them, Keith sitting in the driver's seat.

"Let's go!" He cheered with a half smile.

Charlie laughed and shook her head. Jumping up into the car, they were off. "So, we need to head northeast a few miles."

Keith sped off, moving in the direction they knew the compound to be. Rex started going through the things in the back of the vehicle. There were basic traveling things in the back, some blankets, and a rope.

"Best case scenario, we bring it back?" Charlie said with a wince.

"Of course we will," Keith promised. "It's not like we'll need it again."

She put up her hands. "Just checking. Now, let's get Lu back to the others. I'll smack some sense into her if I have to." Going out into the snow like that, sparkling in tow was dangerous and stupid. Something really must have been wrong for her to be so careless.

They reached the last point that Sideswipe had reported and found the land was vast and white with very little to mark anything beyond the 'No Trespassing' sign that hung on a post as though the people that posted it wanted others to challenge the notice.

 _What's life without a few challenges?_ Charlie didn't voice this optimism. This was going to be difficult, fight or no fight.

"Gear up," Rex announced as he handed out what things they had managed to find. This was going to be a long, cold trek.

The redhead grabbed her backpack, loading the rope and pulling on a jacket, gloves, and scarf.

The trio set off into the white tundra, wind blowing fallen snow against them as they went. The snow was deep and in some places rose above their heads.

Charlie disappeared with a yelp, her shorter stature a disadvantage. Rex pulled her up and pushed her a little behind him.

"Let him plow through," Keith suggested, waving his hand roughly at Rex's height.

Charlie brushed the snow off and waited before following them down the freshly dug trench.

The trio had gone for a long time before even Rex had to call a rest. "Here," he waved at a hill that blocked most of the snow. "Let's take a break."

Keith flopped down beside the larger man. "How are we going to find a white armored Transformer in all this snow?" He asked as if he had just realized how hard it was going to be.

"What I wouldn't give for inferred..." Charlie shook her head. "Maybe I can call her. Have her flash her lights."

"Think she'll answer?" Keith asked, digging a little into the snow to make a better windshield.

She hesitated. "It's worth a shot."

Keith shrugged, making himself comfortable for the time being while Rex did his best to plot the course for the next trek through the blinding white snow.

Charlie pulled the pieces of her phone from her pocket and put it back together. She ignored the voicemail icons and dialed Illusory's comm. "Come on, Lu. Pick it up."

The phone had rang several times before an answering 'click' sounded. "What?" Came Illusory's voice, tired and depressed, none of her usual formality or kindness in it.

"Lu," relief flooded her, "Lu. Where are you? Please, honk. We're out here trying to find you."

"Why?" She grouched.

"You have a scared little sparkling; that's why." Charlie snapped. "I know you're worried and scared...We do this together or not at all, remember?"

There was a short time where it seemed the femme wasn't going to respond at all; then there came a loud - yet muffled - honk that echoed through the open white covered earth.

"Was that her?" Rex asked trying to pinpoint the sound.

"Yeah," Charlie answered him. "Keep it up, Lu. We'll find you."

The sound had repeated a few more times before Rex seemed confident that he knew where the femme was tucked away and led the trio toward the hill that hid her.

Charlie stumbled after them in the snow, eager to check on both Illusory and Silverdust.

Eventually, they found the femme buried under a few feet of snow. Within the warmth of her cab, Silverdust chittered happily at seeing the woman just beyond her femme creator's protective glass.

Charlie rubbed at the frost and snow and let go of the breath she'd been holding. "Let's clear a spot for her."

Illusory's engine rumbled slightly as the snow was cleared from her. There was a layer of ice that had encased her and kept her protected from the cold that, once broken caused her whole frame to shudder. She moved when told to, creeping from the spot she had created, then opened her doors for the humans to get in. Charlie climbed in next to the sparkling, greeting her warmly. Silverdust latched onto the human, not really understanding what was going on, but she didn't seem too upset.

"Can you get through all this snow?" Keith asked looking at the thick white powder all around them.

"Yeah," the femme vented softly. It was slow going, but she managed to plow her way back to where the humans had left their car and stopped.

Charlie stroked the little one's back as they moved. "Do you need a tow, Lu?" She asked after they had stopped.

"No," she murmured, the previous grouchiness was gone, but depression was clear and thick. Rex and Keith glanced at each other, then at Charlie.

"You staying with her?" Rex asked.

"Yeah. Lead the way." She turned back to Silverdust. "You okay, Silver?" she cooed.

The little femme chirped happily, liking that they were moving again. Illusory followed the Trailblazer quietly.

Charlie sighed, relief settling over her only to be followed by worry. "Lu, we'll find him."

Illusory didn't respond right away, her processor trapped in the grief she had found herself in when Scatterblade's end of the bond had gone silent. "I can't feel him," she admitted finally. "If he is deactivated...I won't survive and most likely neither will Silverdust." She sounded almost as if she had accepted this fate and was only waiting.

Charlie's ready retort died in her throat. After a moment she pushed away from the dark thoughts. "You're still here. That means he is, too. You can't just give up. He will call you."

"I am sorry, Charlie. I have not felt this lost in a very long time. It is hard not to give up, but I will try." There still was no enthusiasm in her tone; she sounded tired and almost empty. "For her, if nothing else" she promised, pulsing love through her bond to her sparkling. Silverdust trilled happily, still not fully understanding but accepting her femme creator's affection and the hope that dwelled within.

Charlie rested a hand on the steering wheel, giving it a squeeze. Riding back to the others in silence sent chills down her spine. Scatterblade wasn't responding. What would that mean for their rescue mission? A body pick up, with two more lives added to those lost? Her mind immediately fixated on the lost Autobots. Half of them could be dead for all the communication they had received. Scatterblade had contacted Jazz. Comms were operational, but was anyone left to listen? It made her sick to her stomach.

When they pulled into the lot late that evening, Keith took the Trailblazer to a dark place and wiped it down as best he could before abandoning it and joining the others. Illusory remained silent despite the scolding she was getting from Mirage about how foolish she had been. Charlie stayed with the femme throughout the lecture. Her worry had hit an all-time high, and she barely kept it from rising to the surface.

"Lu," Jazz interrupted Mirage after a few minutes, "ya ok?"

"I will be all right," she mumbled.

Charlie pursed her lips and gave Jazz a small shake of her head. The mech noted Charlie's signal, thinking that he had asked a foolish question. Of course she wasn't okay - her mate had been recaptured as far as they knew and they had no idea what might be happening to him.

"We'll watch th' place...figure out our next move."

Illusory didn't say anything; she had turned all her thinking inward trying desperately to sense her mate while remembering to reassure her sparkling. The fact she wasn't in complete agony was only a small hope to her. She honestly did not know what it would feel like if the worst had happened, though she assumed it would be painful.

Charlie leaned back and sifted through her backpack. The sky was starting to brighten. "I still have some cash on me. Let's find a spot to get food," she said to Rex.

"Sounds good to me," the man agreed, Keith nodding beside him.

::Our stores are growing rather low as well, sir,:: Mirage pointed out over private comms, not wanting the humans to know the 'bots would become weaker the longer they went without energon.

::Ah know,:: Jazz had noticed that Sideswipe wasn't recovering from his mission across the country quite as quickly as he should have; even considering all the rest of the running they had done.

Then there was Illusory who was still supporting Silverdust, and since the sparkling seemed as chipper as ever, he was certain the femme wasn't rationing the little one any. ::We're gonna have ta see if we can find uh mine or try ta sneak back ta one of th' bases an' hope we don't get caught.::

Illusory sat placidly, allowing Silverdust to play around her. The sparkling seemed to think all this nothing more than a game, and the femme appeared to have no intention of informing her otherwise. Jazz, Mirage, and Arcee discussed the option for getting energon while Sideswipe did close patrols, mostly looking for any adventurous humans but also keeping an optic on Illusory and Silverdust. He didn't trust the femme not to rush off the klik she felt her mate again.

Charlie and the men gathered what they had before leaving the small grove of trees where they were currently taking refuge. The 'bots would stay hidden as long as they stayed put. Charlie glanced nervously to Illusory. The last time Scatterblade hadn't responded he had been in stasis. She prayed it was true in this case. Losing all three of them to a paranoid planet after all the centuries of war they'd been through was downright insulting.

They had passed several places to eat after 'returning' the Trailblazer. It wouldn't take long, but Charlie's back was already tense and aching. Not to mention the fact they had been out all afternoon searching for Illusory. Rex and Keith appeared relaxed - used to the long marches and lack of sleep - but still very alert as they went. They were sure nothing was going to be easy - it rarely was - but the fact they were openly siding themselves with the 'bots just meant things could get especially complicated.

Charlie had to make up for her attention deficit. Her nervousness made her edgy to every sound. Whenever she caught herself looking down, she snapped back to attention and checked her surroundings doing her best to mimic the soldiers.

When they reached the first place that served food, Rex hesitated. It looked okay, but it was a bit busy, even for early evening.

"We don't all have to go in," Charlie suggested pulling the sleeve of her glove up some more.

"I will stay out here," Rex offered, waving the other two in while he found a good place to watch everything.

Charlie nodded and held the door open for Keith who quickly scanned the building then waited for Charlie to lead the way. He looked a little uncomfortable in the small dining area with so many people. Charlie got in line to order some meals with Keith waiting patiently beside her, though he was sure he was hearing people talking about 'those robots' hiding nearby and how there had been some strange things happening recently that just had to be the aliens.

Charlie soon found herself relaxing and staring at the menu hungrily. Then her eye caught the TV in the corner of the room with a familiar picture displayed silently on the screen. She blanched but with a forced smile and whisper; she told Keith, "Just get me a number seven. I'm going to find the restroom." As quickly as she dared, Charlie walked outside and pulled her hood over her braided red hair.

Keith watched her go but stayed where he was, keeping the majority of his attention on the murmurs going on around him. Rex joined Charlie as soon as she came out of the building.

"What's wrong?"

"My picture's all over the news. I didn't stay long enough to find out why."

Rex looked back, signaling Keith to look at the TV. Keith nodded and turned his focus while Rex pulled Charlie further away from the crowded restaurant. She walked briskly, keeping her head down.

A family of five youngsters exited the restaurant all vying for their parents' attention. Two of them were boys, and they shoved each other toward the car. Two of the girls were busy on their phones, and the third stared off into space. Her eyes fell on Charlie. Then they lit up.

"Momma. It's Anna!"

Charlie quickly turned her back and tucked her braids in the hood of her jacket. Rex slung his arm over her shoulder trying to look as though he weren't hyper aware of everything around them. Charlie hugged his arm and kept walking. The family didn't run after them to 'rescue' her, so their cover wasn't entirely blown. At least, Charlie hoped so anyway.

Keith came strolling out of the restaurant with bags of food and quickly found the other two. "Looks like some aliens abducted a young lady," he informed them with an aloof tone, though his eyes showed his distress.

Charlie laughed despite her nerves shooting off. "Only one who has to complain about that is Blade."

The two NEST soldiers laughed. "Who would think that we were the dangerous aliens?" Keith asked with a sarcastic tone. "Let's get back. I've lost my appetite."

"Don't toss it yet," Charlie said grabbing one bag.

"Bring it. Who knows when we'll get a chance to eat again." Rex suggested.

Charlie glanced over her shoulder again. After a moment of walking, she spoke again. "Maybe I should cut my hair. Would be easier to hide the color."

"Or dye it," Keith said.

"Or both, " Rex added.

Charlie groaned. "It's so difficult to dye red hair. But that's not a bad idea. I have always wanted to try a pixie cut." She was ever the optimist.

"You two keep going. I'll go back for supplies," Rex offered. "Any color you'd prefer? "

"Brown. Black screams I'm hiding when my skin is this pale."

Charlie and Keith continued walking, letting their thoughts occupy them.

Charlie shook her head after a while, her thoughts refusing to stray. "I really hope Blade is okay."

The pair arrived back at the clearing where the 'bots were waiting; they hadn't moved much at all, but the general air of the place was grim. Silverdust chattered at Charlie as soon as she spotted her, happy for her return. The woman joined Silverdust and Illusory, giving the little femme a hug before patting her mother gently.

"So," she began, "People think I've been abducted by aliens," she said as if sharing an interesting bit of trivia but with a wince.

Illusory looked at the woman blankly. "In a way, you have." She pointed out. "Your choice to stay does not change that we ran off with you."

"Hey, I came willingly. 'Blade was the one who got abducted," she grumbled.

Illusory just nodded. She went back to watching Silverdust play. She felt so empty without Scatterblade's constant warmth there beside her.

"We should move soon. Get you all closer to some energon." Charlie said.

"We were discussing that earlier," Arcee said, sitting beside Silverdust and drawing shapes in the dirt with her.

"Where's Rex? " Jazz asked

"He went to pick up some supplies and some stuff to disguise me. I'm cutting my hair off." She frowned slightly as she shrugged.

"You do not have to do that," Illusory said, her tone still bland.

"It's uh good idea," Jazz said, ignoring Illusory's statement.

"They'll be looking for a redhead with long hair. Mine will be extra short and brown." She wasn't happy about it. Her hair nearly reached her hip, and it had taken five years to grow. _Hair grows back_ ; she kept reminding herself.

"Wouldn't hurt for us all to make uh lil' change. We'll all go out one at uh time, scan uh new alt."

Sideswipe shoved himself to his feet. "I'll go first. Probably find Rex on the way."

"Be careful, " Arcee warned. "Try to pick something a little less flashy this time, okay?"

The mech waved her off and headed back toward the road.

"Seriously, Sides. Lamborghini doesn't exactly equal hiding," Charlie added.

"Style," the mech called back, "it's worth it."

"Idiot, " Mirage grumbled.

With a sigh, Charlie brushed the snow away so she could sit on dry ground. Her mind raced over the last almost two weeks. Every time she thought of Scatterblade her chest hurt. He was like her big brother. He and Illusory and little Silverdust were family. As cliche as she felt thinking it, it couldn't have been truer.

It was some time before Sideswipe returned with Rex. The man gave Charlie a bag with things to cut and dye her hair along with a handful of energy bars. "Figured we could use some," he explained.

Sideswipe flopped ungracefully to the ground with an exaggerated groan. "I'm going to get some recharge, " he said as Arcee stood to take her turn out. The femme gave him a concerned look but said nothing as she left.

Charlie took the bags. "That's a very good idea." She sifted through the bag until both hands were full with supplies. With a sigh, she put everything down around her and gathered her hair into a ponytail. "Here goes nothing." Handing the scissors to Keith, she said, "Cut it above the hair tie."

One big snip later and Charlie was holding the long lock of hair. She set it aside before opening the box of dye. A few hours later and several attempts to stop halfway through, Charlie sat with a shirt wrapped around her head. With some help from the 'bots, they were able to melt some snow to wash the excess dye away.

Silverdust had fun with the whole process, admiring the change in the woman that she had known all her life. Illusory watched it all sadly while the two men offered compliments to the new look. Arcee returned in the middle of the process and noted the change with approval, her armor reflecting her change in alt mode. Mirage was the next to go, and he slipped away silently.

Charlie smiled brightly, drying the shorter crop so it wouldn't freeze.

When Mirage returned, Jazz stood but did not immediately slip away. "Arcee, would ya keep an optic on th' lil' one? Lu an' Ah can go together, save some time."

"Of course, " the other femme agreed.

"Would it not be safer to go individually? It would be harder to be spotted." Illusory still spoke with a general disinterest, only stating reason that had been mentioned before.

"Ah think the two of us will be okay. Besides, th' others can get uh start an' we'll catch up. Someone might have noticed all th' activity in this area."

"We'll get packed up. Don't be long." Charlie helped the NEST men get their stuff together.

Illusory didn't move for a few minutes, her focus clearly on her sparkling. "Okay," she finally agreed.

Charlie saw the men were well enough on their own and went over to Silverdust. "Hi, Silver. Do you like it?" She ran a hand through her brown hair.

The little femme clicked happily.

Charlie chuckled and began drawing in the snow with the sparkling. It wasn't long before everyone was set and they were on the road.

Jazz and Illusory skirted the town, searching the homes further out for something suitable. Jazz found something he liked with a dark paint job that was sporty but not too flashy. Illusory was less interested in the search for a new alt. Jazz finally took charge and guided the femme do a midnight blue sedan. She took it on with just as much interest as she had put toward everything else.

"Lu," he said finally, "you're thinkin' too much."

"My mate could be deactivated for all I know...I do not see how I could possibly be thinking too much."

"Femme, yer still functioning an' yer not writhing in pain. He's not deactivated."

"How do you know that?" She asked, for the first time something other than emptiness or anger in her voice; she was afraid, and it showed everywhere.

"Because, " he said with a little relief that she was finally emoting, "Ah've seen it before an' yer not in spark shock."

"That does not make me feel better. "

"Well, it's all Ah got at the moment. But, we will get him back, that Ah can promise."

"Promises are empty."

Jazz vented with a little frustration. "Alright, let's get back."

Charlie and Silverdust rode with Sideswipe. The woman kept her gaze out the back window, hoping to see Illusory and Jazz catch up. They didn't move too quickly, no need to lose them, but putting distance between themselves and the town was second only to getting the 'bots to an energon source.

::Jazz,:: Sideswipe called, ::ETA?::

::On our way,:: the mech answered. In truth, he was pretty sure that at Illusory's current leisurely pace they wouldn't catch up with the others until they stopped.

A few hours in Charlie's head began to droop. She chuckled to herself as she realized her being bored meant no one was chasing them, for now.

As the hours passed, the 'bots started seeking a place to tuck away and wait for the other two to catch up before laying a raid on the old base they chose to get their energon.

Charlie leaned on the sparkling and slept for much of the way, her nap filled with images of wrecked cars and broken pieces.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	6. Chapter 6

~*~ Chapter Six ~*~

Day 12

When Jazz and Illusory finally arrived, the 'bots spoke quickly of their plan to raid the base and where they would hide out afterward.

"Lu, ya take th' humans ta th' meetin' point an' wait fer us there," Jazz instructed.

There was a moment when the femme looked as though she might protest, then nodded instead.

"We could help," Rex offered.

"We want to help," Keith added when he saw the look of denial on several of the 'bots faces. "You'll look less suspicious with humans riding along. Besides, we can get to places you guys can't."

"Fine," Jazz agreed finally, "but not Charlie, civilians shouldn't be caught up in this." He glanced at the woman to see if she would protest.

She held up her hands in surrender. "I think I've hit my insanity quota...for the year."

With a nod of approval, the 'bots got ready to go. Illusory, with Charlie and Silverdust headed away from them, getting a head start in case something were to happen, and the group was caught; at least her trail would be cold.

The rest would head for the base later, using the cover of darkness to hide their approach.

Charlie watched the group fade away as they drove. Her fingers sought her hair for comfort only to twirl the short tresses. She dug through her backpack and pulled out the ponytail, braiding it as a distraction.

"Have you heard from him?" Charlie asked after several miles of silence.

"No," Illusory answered softly. "But Jazz seems to believe that he is still functional." There was a touch of hope to her tone; so faint it was almost gone the second she finished speaking.

"Yeah." Charlie fell to thinking once more. "I'm really worried. I'm a broken record, I know..." her silence returned.

"I am worried too," the femme said. "I do not know what to do...I want to go get him, but I know I shouldn't." Illusory was frustrated, and it showed.

"We just have to wait for the guys to get back. Once everyone is refreshed, we can storm that place and get 'Blade home." Her determination hard as ever was starting to ooze with caution deep in optimistic pessimism.

"What if it's too late?" A tremor of fear shook Illusory's voice. "What if they don't come back? What happens if he's hurt? We don't have a medic anymore!"

Charlie gripped the door handle as much as if it were the femme's arm. "Lu, please. Calm down. We'll manage. We'll figure it out. There have to be some people from NEST out there. What about Will? We could find Lennox and..." she sighed. She didn't know if they would be able to find him. "There has to be someone that will listen."

"Listen to what?" The femme asked bitterly. "We've been deemed dangerous to your kind...and it is true." She vented hard, trying to control herself. "I do not see a happy ending to all of this, Charlie."

The woman opened her mouth to protest. Then it closed. No amount of pleading or arguing between them would help.

They made the rest of the trip in silence with Illusory completely wrapped in her despair. Things were bad, and she just wasn't seeing a way out. There was always supposed to be a way out. That was how she had come to this planet in the first place; it had been her way out of the war on Cybertron: yet here was a new war - slaughter - going on and she was trapped. They were all trapped.

They would have to leave the planet, but what about Charlie and the other humans that dared to side with them? Her processor spun wildly as she searched for answers that would not come to her. 'Scatterblade,' she whispered through their bond, 'I need you.'

Charlie distracted herself playing with Silverdust. When the little femme fell asleep, she pulled out her worn leather bound journal and wrote. The stream of consciousness that came to the page did nothing to alleviate the pain from the hand they had been dealt. She had written a long list titled: _Why We're Screwed_. Next to it was a list in the smallest script she could write, of those who they had yet to find.

Reaching the meeting point, Illusory let out her passengers and found a good place to sit to wait. Her frame ached from all the running, from her minor injuries that were still healing, and from a lack of energon; not critical, but noticeable to her systems.

They sat at the meeting point for a long time. Illusory was starting to get nervous, but she did her best to hide it by worrying over Charlie instead. "Are you hungry? Should we find food for you? Maybe you should get some rest while we wait."

Charlie pulled open her backpack. "I saved some food from last time. I'm not very hungry right now, but a nap would be good." She didn't move from her spot on the ground despite her words. There was so much worry in her own heart she knew that attempting to sleep was pointless.

"Are you cold? You could use my heater."

She shook her head and shuddered in the wind. "I'm okay." She started to hum in an effort to clear her mind.

Illusory started pacing as an alternative to pressing Charlie. She fretted over some branches laying about, then moved some rocks into a more orderly placement. "They are taking too long!" She finally snapped as the sun broke the horizon marking a new day.

Charlie jumped, swallowing her song. "We just have to be patient. If they're doing it right, they'll take their time."

The femme made an obviously distressed sound that rumbled from deep in her chassis. "What if they have been caught?" She looked at Charlie desperately, so many things running through her processor.

 _Nothing_ came to mind. There was nothing they could do; Illusory wasn't built for fierce fighting, and she was protecting two lives already.

Charlie looked to the ground. "We hide."

"Hide?" Illusory looked around, assessing, thinking. "Okay...we can hide," she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself that would work.

"We start over. Maybe look for a small town. Just move in," Charlie suggested, sounding a little braver. "Yeah, we can wait safely. If- when they come back, we'll be ready to get 'Blade."

Illusory looked as though she were going to say more, then snapped her mouth shut and nodded instead. She knew whatever she said would be negative and she had to let Charlie have hope...one of them had to.

With new purpose, Charlie gathered her things. They could figure this out, stay safe and wait for the mechs and men to return. They would come back. Everything would be alright. She kept up her mantra silently. "Let's hit a gas station and get a map."

The femme was so thankful for some form of direction, something to keep her processor from the panic rising like the tide within her, that she transformed and opened her door for Charlie without so much as a word. Anything was better than sitting around and waiting.

After some searching, they were finally able to locate a place that sold maps.

Charlie scoured the towns and cities and chose a small town a few hours away. Illusory went quietly following Charlie's directions, keeping comms open just in case. When they arrived, Charlie looked for a motel. Counting out her remaining cash was a little discouraging, but she totaled what she would need for a few nights. At least she could have a traditional bed and a shower.

"I'll check to see if it's clear before I take Silver inside. Unless you want her to stay with you."

The femme debated on that for some time before speaking. "Take her in with you, please. If they figure out I am here, she will stand a better chance with you..." it was a very slim chance, but it was all she could offer in these hard times. "I will park further down the road."

"Okay. Will you be able to come with your holoform?"

"Yes," she promised.

When the street was empty, Charlie took the sparkling inside.

Illusory waited until the pair were safe inside before driving off. She went several blocks to a run down looking warehouse and parked behind some overgrowth, then generated her holoform and went to join her friend and daughter.

Charlie was entertaining Silverdust when a knock at the door made her jump. She sighed and ran her hands over her eyes before opening the door for Illusory.

Silverdust greeted the holoform just as if it were Illusory herself and went back to playing on the floor.

"I think I'm going to look into a job. Save some money." Charlie said, slumping into a chair to watch Silverdust play.

"Yes," the femme agreed, "that would seem...normal." She fussed with Silverdust for a while before she seemed calm enough to set. "We cannot be too involved with the people here, for our sake and theirs. Somehow I doubt those soldiers will care if civilians get caught in the crossfire."

"Right," Charlie sighed. "First thing tomorrow then. I'm beat."

"Rest. I will keep watch."

It took nothing more for Charlie to climb into the bed and let sleep take her to a dark oblivion.

The first two days were spent pounding the pavement. Charlie looked into all the shops and stores. Many of them weren't hiring. Not even the diner or the pub. On the third day after finishing off the last of the sandwich fixings she'd bought, she walked into the only church building in town. A Methodist place that looked lived in. The pews were worn and old. The glass windows shone brightly on the decorations. With a little effort, she found the office of the preacher.

They needed a night guard for the building. Local kids and out-of-town-ers would often vandalize the yard, though the building itself hadn't been touched in years. The preacher said he couldn't offer much, but every week there would be a potluck she was welcome to join. She might even find extra work through the members.

This went on for about a week and a half. She spent her days with the femmes and nights at the church.

Illusory went through spells of near catatonic existence to almost unreasonable panic. She hated Charlie being away all night but most days she understood the need for it. A few nights, however, she reached a near-panic mode and would all but lock Charlie in their room to keep her from leaving. It was evident the femme was losing her mental stability the longer time went on with no contact, and her dropping energy levels did nothing to slow the process.

Silverdust was the only thing that kept the femme grounded when Charlie wasn't around to talk sense into her, though it was only just.

One morning as Charlie came back to the motel completely exhausted, barely able to keep her eyes open, she opened the door and was stunned. All she could do was stand and gape at the mess that awaited her. The little femme had gotten into everything. The toilet paper laced the small area, the trash had been knocked over, and what little clothes Charlie had were layered on Silverdust in the most adorable display of dress up she had ever seen; but she couldn't laugh. Her ears turned red, and she threw down her bag. "Lu!"

The femme's holoform was there, but it appeared for all intents and purposes to be like a lamp; it was on, but no one was there.

::Lu, Ah know yer out there somewhere, where'd ya hide yerself?::

The femme was so shocked by the transmission she had come to think would never come that her holoform pixelated badly, taking almost a full minute to re-establish. It was at that point she noticed Charlie and was then sure it was the woman who had spoken to her and not a comm as she had hoped. "I am not hiding," she told the woman in an empty tone.

The woman shook her head. "What? Lu...I know things have been rough, but your little girl wrecked the entire room."

"Oh," Illusory looked around as if she were just seeing the place for the first time. "Silverdust..." she stood to go after the sparkling but her holoform destabilized again and she was forced to remain still or lose it all together. "I am sorry, Charlie. I hope she has not damaged anything."

::Lu, come on femme, answer meh!::

Illusory looked at Charlie very confused. "I did say I was sorry." Her voice almost had an edge to it. "You do not have to yell."

Charlie eyed her and tilted her head. "Lu... who are you talking to?" She was afraid her friend had finally lost it.

Then it clicked. "Lu...check your comm."

The femme looked as though she thought Charlie was being unreasonable but chose to humor her anyway. After all, she had come to realize she could not always trust her own judgment these days. Much to her surprise, there had been activity on her comm recently. ::Hello?:: she called out nervously.

::Lu! Thank Primus! Was beginning ta think we'd lost ya.:: Jazz's tone was weary and full of relief. ::We're headed ta uh new location...meetin' spot seems like it might be comprised. How soon can ya meet us?::

Illusory checked the coordinates sent to her against a scan of the map Charlie had picked up earlier. ::A few hours at best,:: she admitted.

::Good. See ya then.:: Jazz's line cut out, leaving Illusory stunned for a few kliks before she looked at Charlie again. "It is time to go. They will meet us at a new location; the previous one may have been discovered. I will have to cut my holoform, but I will arrive shortly." She looked at Silverdust who was still happily tossing things around. "Be good Silverdust and help Charlie pack."

Charlie stood stunned by the suddenness, but after a few more moments she hurriedly cleaned her things. Paying with cash had worked out so well. She dumped a fifth of her bills on the bed and pocketed the rest, no bother to clean up the mess. She pulled her clothes from Silverdust with much resistance and gathered what they needed.

Illusory's engine roared to life, though sounding a little weaker than normal. She hurried back to the motel to pick up her passengers.

The noise worried Charlie. "Please. Take it easy. You're not in shape."

"They are late, the original meeting place was compromised, and Jazz asked how soon we could be there," the femme listed off sounding more herself than she had in days, "I do not believe taking it easy is within the range of acceptance."

"If you break down..." Charlie let the tired threat hang. She didn't have any optimism left. It had been painful letting her hope be unfulfilled as the days had dragged. It was weaker, and with Illusory on the verge of empty, she was scared. As soon as her passengers were loaded the femme took off.

"We will make it there," she promised, though she did slow her pace some, not much but enough to keep her engine from screaming with the effort.

Charlie settled in, leaning back in her seat. At least she'd get a few hours of sleep.

They finally arrived at the place - which ended up being a disused campgrounds lined with old thick trees - to find that not all were there.

 _Patrol,_ Illusory thought.

Still, the state of those still there showed how difficult the mission had been. Jazz was kneeling next to Sideswipe who was sitting propped against one of the large trees. Arcee was pacing with a heavy limp around the area, well within sight but not coming close either.

Charlie helped Silverdust from Illusory's cab. "Sides.." She walked toward the mechs tentatively. The NEST boys...Charlie felt her stomach sink.

"Hey, Charlie," the mech responded weakly, though he tried to look as though nothing were wrong.

Illusory stood from her alt mode and stared for a moment before rushing over to grab Charlie back. There was a pool of energon - barely glowing with most of its useful energy spent - around the frontliner. The femme set Charlie in a safe place before going to help Jazz in attempting to give Sideswipe first aid. She was so shocked that she could find nothing to say. Jazz didn't miss a beat once the femme was there in working in tandem to try and save Sideswipe, guiding her to some of the worst damage. Charlie tumbled to the ground, her legs giving out as the femme deposited her. She couldn't understand what she saw. How could humans have done this? Weak little things, with a prejudice a mile wide. The churning in her stomach threatened to strengthen, but she couldn't look away.

"Sideswipe," Illusory begged, "hold on, please!" It was clear that no matter how hard the two working on him tried, he was a lost cause.

"S'okay," he slurred, "Sunny's waitin' on me anyway." He weakly pushed the femme's hands away from a spot she was desperately trying to stop energon from leaking. "We got fuel for you an' Silver. Keep yourselves...safe." With that, his optics went dark, and his frame seized once before slumping.

"No..." the femme whispered.

Jazz turned away, his frame rigid with anger.

Charlie stared dumbfounded. Sides and Sunny, Ironhide, who else? Who was dying or hiding? Who was left to fight back?

Her head spun, and she had to sit down. Prime was missing, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Perceptor, Red Alert, Wheeljack, Mirage; any of them could be dead. "What are we going to do?" She felt her throat closing around a sob.

"We try an' regroup." Jazz stated in a way that gave no room for arguments. "We've gotta get our 'bots together again, or we don't stand uh chance."

Charlie nodded, covering her mouth to stop herself from crying. After a few moments to compose herself, she spoke softly. "Do we.. bury him?"

Illusory only sat in complete stunned silence, unable to speak or move. Silverdust was standing not far away, her expression clear that she knew something was horribly wrong, but maybe not that she knew what.

Jazz drew in a deep drag of air, smiled at Charlie and gave a slight nod. "Yeah, think that would be best. At least keep his frame safe..."

Charlie's vision grew clouded until she blinked the droplets onto her cheeks. She stood uneasily but scouted forward for a large enough space for the burial.

After an appropriate place was found, the 'bots all started digging; even Illusory joined in - though she moved more like a drone than a sentient being. Once the grave was dug, it took the three of them together to lay the frontliner that had been so much larger than any of them within.

Illusory stood numbly aside while Jazz and Arcee filled the hole. She couldn't help but see Scatterblade in Sideswipe's place, and her spark hurt so badly. Losing Sideswipe was a bad enough blow to her already fragile state of mind, but the addition of similarities between him and Scatterblade was sufficient for her to lose herself in a downward spiral of fear and doubts.

Charlie watched with fresh tears, holding Silverdust's hand in hers. She took a shuddering breath then started to sing. Softly and without her normal strength. It was her goodbye with the hope of a brighter reunion.

" _In the quiet misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed,_

 _When the sparrows stop their singing, and the sky is clear and red,_

 _When the summer's ceased its gleaming when the corn is past its prime,_

 _When adventure's lost its meaning, I'll be homeward bound in time._

 _Bind me not to the pasture. Chain me not to the plow.  
_

 _Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow._

 _If you find it's me you're missing, if you're hoping I'll return,_

 _To your thought I'll soon be list'ning; in the road, I'll stop and turn._

 _Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end,_

 _And the path I'll be retracing when I'm homeward bound again._

 _Bind me not to the pasture. Chain me not to the plow.  
_

 _Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow._

 _In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,  
_

 _When the sparrows stop their singing, I'll be homeward bound again_."

"Well sung," Jazz offered the woman when all was done. "Let's get that energon an' get outta here," he ordered with a voice slightly more rough than usual.

Illusory didn't move; her optics still fixed on the large spot of turned Earth, cold rock slabs laid over to help hide it away. Emotionally she was trapped somewhere between great sorrow and absolute rage - old memories of the destruction of everything she had known as a youngling mingling with the fresh memories of it all happening again.

"Illusory?" Arcee called. "Come on, you need a cube or two to get you going. We've already fueled, you should too."

Charlie smiled weakly and turned to Illusory. "Come on, Lu." She ran her hand down the femme's arm. "We need to go."

Illusory looked at Charlie as if she hadn't known the woman was even there. Then it was as if the whole world registered to her again and she shuddered. Arcee grabbed her arm gently and guided her back to where they had stored their pilfered energon. "Take what you need for you and Silverdust," she instructed.

Charlie guided the sparkling toward the pile. It felt like leading a horse to water. She just hoped Illusory would take it on her own.

Illusory did as she was told to do and tended to her sparkling but remained rather blank. No one could tell what she might be thinking or feeling at that moment. Still, they had things to do and 'bots to find.

"Let's find us uh good place ta hole up, set up uh temporary base ta work from." Jazz ordered, rounding up those that were still with him and divvying up their supplies between them.

Charlie followed after them, the song on repeat in her mind. It pushed her further on, and it started to feel like their anthem. They would find home again and all that it implied. Safety, Scatterblade, anyone else in hiding, and peace. It didn't reassure her. Sideswipe lingered in the back of her mind, but it slowly added a measure of strength to her optimism.

They stayed to back roads, seeking places difficult for humans to access easily. The search went on for days before they finally found a good place in the Rocky Mountains with sheer cliffs that would require heavy equipment for humans to reach without help.

"Sorry, yer kinda stranded here," Jazz apologized to Charlie, "but at least we're all safe."

Charlie nodded. "At least I paid attention at camp. I can find some food." She turned to Illusory, and a frown touched her lips. She hadn't spoken unless it was a necessity and it was frightening her.

Jazz noticed the concerned look and knelt beside Charlie. "She'll be fine. It's hard fer new bonds ta be apart from each other, worse in uh case like this, but you'll see. Soon as we get 'Blade back ta her, she'll be herself again."

The days dragged on with some buzz between Arcee and Jazz as they worked out plans for search and regrouping those that might be left on Earth. There was no talk of Scatterblade, and Illusory made no efforts to join in on the conversations. The femme seemed detached from everything but her sparkling, and if Silverdust wasn't interested in her femme creator, then Illusory wasn't interested in the world around her. Jazz and Arcee had not forgotten about Scatterblade; the mech was high on their list of those to get back. Not only because he was a strong frontliner, but also for the simple fact that losing him would cost them two more lives as well. However, they knew better than to bring up the mech's current predicament where Illusory could hear them. Once they had any useful information to move on - where the mech had been taken to, that he was any kind of aware enough to help them or even something on the news that they could follow - they would move, but until then they would remain silent.

It was just when Jazz was talking about taking a trip down the mountainside that all the 'bots perked up, even Illusory showed signs of awareness as an incoming transmission alerted them all to a mech seeking aid. ::Designation, situation, location?:: Jazz demanded curtly.

::Mirage, I've got a human with me...Rex, if I recall, and I've just lost our pursuers. Safe location to meet?::

::You find a safe place to hide, we'll come to you,:: Arcee instructed, already heading out of the cave on the ping of Mirage's location.

"Lu, ya hang back with Charlie. We'll be back in uh flash." Jazz only waited for the femme to nod before he too slipped out of the cave and headed for their comrade in need.

Charlie jumped to her feet discarding the journal. "Where are you going? What's happened?"

"Mirage," Illusory said with something like a sigh. Then turned away from the cave opening and continued her silent brooding.

"He's okay!" Charlie leaned back against the wall. "Things are looking up."

"Maybe," Illusory murmured. "He did not state his condition, only that he had lost their pursuers. He may be hurt...like Sideswipe was..."

The woman's smile fell, and she slid down the wall to sit. She ran her hand over Silverdust's sleepy head as much to comfort herself as the little femme.

The silence stretched on through the remaining day and long into the night. It was just the gray stage of sunrise before there was a sound near the cave entrance.

Despite her previous lethargy, Illusory leaped to her feet, moving to protect Charlie and her sparkling from the intruder. She pulled her only weapon, still not something that would kill, but could pack a real punch in a tight spot. At this moment though, she almost wished she had upgraded to something a bit more lethal.

Charlie shielded the little femme and watched the mouth of the cave warily.

Arcee's small frame reflected the bare light as she slid into the cave, seeing Illusory in a defensive position, she raised her hands in a calming gesture. "It's just me," she assured the femme. "Just came ahead to see if all was well here. I expected you to be recharging."

"And leave them unprotected?" Illusory all but growled, but put her weapon away and relaxed.

"Lu..." Charlie said tiredly. It was becoming a mantra over the last week.

"Well," Arcee vented softly, seeing there was no point in scolding the other femme, "we found him and Rex. They're a little damaged but will recover okay. Jazz is helping them up the mountain now. I'm going to go back and lend a hand, just wanted to make sure you three were okay."

Relief flooded Charlie at the news. She worried about Kieth, but for now, at least she knew one of them had made it.

It took the 'bots almost two hours to get back to the cave, Mirage clearly struggling with balance; Jazz all but hauling him up into the cave. Arcee carried Rex who looked worse for wear with blood stained bandages wrapping one arm and leg and a nasty looking cut that had stopped bleeding but still looked garish across his head.

Illusory's whole frame appeared to slump even more at the sight of them; she was happy that they were alive, but seeing them as they were instantly brought back the last moments with Sideswipe and the mere fact that Keith was not there. She keened softly before gathering up her sparkling and turning away from it all.

Jazz noted the femme's reaction but made no remark of it. His sole focus was on getting Mirage energon while Arcee helped settle Rex.

One look at him brought Charlie forward hauling her bag along. She quickly started tearing a shirt up and unscrewing the lid of a worn bottle of water.

The man looked at her as she approached, a moment where he just didn't recognize her, then a moment later a light came into his eyes. "Charlie!" He almost laughed, wincing at the effort. "Good to see you. You guys didn't have any trouble, did you?"

It was funny to see how his concern for the rather apparently unharmed woman and her companions overshadowed his hurts at the moment. Charlie's eyes instantly filled with tears but she smiled through them. "We're...okay. Let's get you cleaned up, and we'll talk."

He looked over his bandages, frowning at them as though they were barely noticeable. "It looks worse than it is," he promised, though from the blood stains on the pale cloth his opinion of 'worse than it looks' might have been a bit skewed.

She held a finger to his lips. "Less talk, more bandages."

Rex smiled, but relaxed against the cold cave wall and allowed Charlie to tend to his injuries. In truth he was exhausted and worn to the soul, it was nice to have someone look after him for a while.

Arcee made an attempt to talk to Illusory, but the femme did not acknowledge her presence, simply remaining focused on her sleeping sparkling. She gave Jazz a rather concerned look, but the mech who was - for all intents and purposes - their current leader just shook his head slightly, indicating that she should leave Illusory alone for the time being.

After a few hours of working in the glow of headlights, Charlie looked over the snug strips of cloth. It was crude and would have to be changed several times. The wound on his leg needed to be sewn shut and her current lack of needles worried her, but she sat back and grabbed the bottle again. "Here, drink."

Rex complied easily enough, years of being a soldier teaching him to follow orders even when he might not otherwise be inclined. "You're a good doctor," he teased softly, sipping some water.

"Slowly," she said watching that he didn't gulp it, the tease either ignored or it went straight over her head.

The man did as he was told, then handed Charlie the bottle back. "How are you holding up?" He asked carefully. He had seen what happened to Sideswipe, though he hadn't found out that the mech had died until Jazz and Arcee met up with them. It still stung, but he knew that it was what happened with war. He would miss the mech, just like he would miss Keith - they had both been brothers-in-arms to him and in the situation they had found themselves in they had been some of the closest beings to his heart. Still, he was a soldier, and there were others that needed him now. He could mourn later.

Charlie shrugged with one shoulder. "I'm trying to keep Lu positive. It isn't really working..."

He glanced to the brooding femme, a mix of understanding and sorrow crossing his face. "It's gotta be hard on both of you; losing everything like that. You're a strong woman, trying to help her as you are. I'm sure it's helping more than you think."

"You ever heard of 'faking it til you make it'?" The grin fell, and her voice was small. "It's a miracle she's functioning at all. Silver's got to be the only thing holding her here."

"What makes you say that?" He leaned forward to get a better look at the femme in question.

"I've never seen her like this. It's like when...after he was gone, she disappeared with him. She's here, but not completely."

"I've heard that sometimes happens with soldiers' better halves. Kinda like survivors guilt...only they don't know if the other one's gone or not, so they're stuck between mourning for their lost love and feeling bad that they think the other might be dead. Maybe, anyway. I can't say I know much about the emotional stages of our friends. Still...I suspect that she's taking it hard."

Charlie nodded. "From what I've seen, that's really close. She's lost without him. Literally..."

Rex nodded with understanding. "What about you? I mean, I know you're doing your best for her, and that's more than anyone can ask at a time like this. How are you handling all this?"

Charlie pulled in a deep breath. "I'm angry. I'm still trying to understand... I think I'm still in shock. So many of them are gone. And Lu, Silver, Blade...they're family. Not to push my parents or siblings to the side but, they're like an older sister and brother. They are my family, and everything is being ripped apart..." her voice broke, and she pushed her left knuckle to her lips. After squeezing more tears back, she took a shuddered breath. "I try to stay optimistic. Hope's kind of been my weapon, but it's so weak..."

"Hope is one of those strange things," Rex said as he pulled Charlie closer to him with his good arm so he could hug her, "even at its weakest moments, it's one of the strongest things we have."

Charlie gasped and for a moment simply sat rigidly against him. Realization dawned on her that it had been so long since she'd had a hug. After a few seconds, she wrapped her arms around him and returned it. "Thank you."

"Anytime." He was content just to stay that way, for the time being, giving and taking comfort in contact with another human being that was on their side of this very weighted fight - it couldn't even be called a war, he realized. Rex relaxed against the wall, weary and tired, sleep soon claimed him.

Charlie didn't move. She let his heartbeat lull her into sleep as well. Images flashed before her. She saw an Autobot running from a team of trained assassins. They kept gunning him down as he ran. At first, it was Ratchet, then Sideswipe and then Scatterblade. She tried to get to him, to guide him to a safer place or distract the soldiers, but she wasn't fast enough. There wasn't a way to reach him. The firing didn't cease, and soon three cries hit the air. Charlie flinched violently in her sleep jarring her to consciousness. She took great gulps of air, and she blinked as she looked around her.

"Hey?" Rex groaned, though there was no anger in his voice, just pain, and worry. "What's wrong?"

Charlie took several seconds to remember where she was and who she was practically laying on top of. "Just...a nightmare. I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No," he lied. "What was it about?"

She offered very little. "Just more slag..."

"Okay," he patted her shoulder softly. "Try and get some more sleep." The suggestion was barely out before he had relaxed again and drifted back to sleep.

Charlie grunted and rested her head on him again. Sleep didn't come back as quickly, but soon she was waking to light from the cave opening.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	7. Chapter 7

~*~ Chapter Seven ~*~

Day 36

The days went by generally uneventful, the 'bots only left the cave when they had to to keep them from being noticed, but on their ventures out they picked up things for the humans when possible, and did their best to get what they needed as well. Energon was still a risky business since they had nothing to refine raw energy with and the only places that the fuel was stored were heavily protected - more so now than before. They rationed what they had and for now they knew they could last quite some time on what they had as long as nothing major happened; but nothing major also meant not going to the rescue of anyone.

Illusory was quiet for some time, ignoring the obvious conclusion of their situation, but as time continued to tick by and there was not even mention of Scatterblade, her nerves grew raw with tension. She was considering going after her mate herself, but their bond remained dim and quiet and she wasn't sure she could find him without something more. Still, her spark was in near constant turmoil from their separation and she wouldn't last the frustration much longer. She began to get defensive, snapping when anyone spoke to her and becoming fidgety instead of her usual still silence. It wouldn't be long until she snapped and went after her mate and the others knew it.

Jazz did his best to take the brunt of her frustrations, hoping that if she blew off some steam, she might hold out longer. It was a real hope but ultimately doomed to fail. The femme's frame was in an almost constant state of tension, and her armor would rattle from frustration every so often. The others got a little edgy when she started wandering closer to the cave entrance, fearing that she would bolt before anyone could catch her.

Charlie had tried to be patient through it all. She felt that she had shown an incredible amounts in the several years she'd known Illusory. In this limbo, they were stuck and as Illusory snapped, so did the thread holding her patience.

"Illusory." Charlie stalked to the femme, clear circles of fatigue around her eyes. "None of us like what's happening. We know you're in pain. Unimaginable. But driving yourself into the ground is not an option." She pulled back her leg to kick the femme's leg but stomped it down. "You need to snap back!"

"Ah can't!" The femme roared, for the first time in her time knowing Charlie looking as though she might attack her.

Jazz and Arcee had been quick to get between the two, the mech tackling the femme while Arcee snatched Charlie away whispering, "Not a good idea," to the woman as she carried her a safe distance.

Jazz and Illusory tumbled for several minutes, the femme's frustration and desperation giving her the strength to fight back the more skilled mech, but eventually, her pain won over and she was pinned, keening miserably.

"Calm down," Jazz ordered shortly; his temper wasn't much better than Illusory's, but he had had many vorns of experience to deal with his while the femme was just learning how her spark could betray her senses.

"Ah can't," she whimpered again, still struggling but unable to get free.

Charlie hit Arcee, banging her metal arm on the femme repeatedly, demanding she be released. Illusory needed some sense knocked into her, she raged. The woman had finally gotten a response from her friend, and she wasn't going to let Illusory just slip away from them again.

Arcee held tight to the woman, not understanding why she was acting up too other than simple stress and frustration. "You're not helping, " Arcee informed Charlie. "She's not processing clearly; she might hurt you!"

"Let her! Maybe it'll wake her up!" She spat loud enough for the blue femme to hear.

Illusory fought against Jazz as hard as she could until her systems screamed with the stress. The mech cursed in their own language wishing Ratchet were here to help them.

Arcee growled at Charlie. "Maybe, or maybe that will be the last straw that snaps whatever hold she has on herself."

Charlie glared right back at her; her teeth clenched tightly. She bit back tears unsuccessfully.

The tension broke with a terrified cry from Silverdust, who had watched everything unfold but did not understand what was happening.

Illusory froze, then started struggling again, this time with a whole new purpose. "Let me go," she demanded a note of desperation in her voice.

Jazz held her down only long enough to be sure she wasn't out to harm anyone.

The femme scrambled to her feet then rushed to her sparkling, trying to calm the young femme despite her raging fears. "Ah'm sorry," she murmured over and over to her.

Charlie pulled herself free and slunk to the corner of the cave. She drew deep breaths, clearing her head of the flood of anger.

Rex limped to Charlie, his concern apparent. "What was that about?" He asked gently, not pushing for an answer or with any accusation implied.

Tears started slipping down her face. "I'm losing her..." she choked out the words then a sob took her.

Rex wrapped his arms around the woman, pulling her in close to him. "No," he assured her softly, his deep voice rumbling strong through them both. "It may feel that way, but she's not gone."

She couldn't respond through the pain. Charlie wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tightly.

Time stood still. Or at least that's what it felt like. That's all that made sense. It was paused then resumed, and when it did, it was like being thrown from a cliff onto rocks below. His whole frame ached. Everything from his feet to his spark to his processor. Scatterblade did know anything but that dull ache. His optics lit up, and he groaned. The light was dim, and he didn't understand what he saw, not entirely, just fuzzy shapes that sharpened into focus.

"Decided to join the world of the functioning, did you?" A voice sneered as a red armored mech approached.

Scatterblade flinched and ejected his swords only to remember he didn't have them. He laid back down as his equilibrium faltered. After a few moments to reorient himself, he gaped up at the Decepticon. "Knockout? What are you doing here?" The accusation was weak, and confusion played on his faceplates. The last thing he remembered was being recaptured by humans, not Decepticons. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure about his memory.

"Somebot had to put your sorry self back together," the mech teased, though his tone didn't quite cover the worn defeat on his face.

Scatterblade just stared at him. "I'm sorry...what?"

"Oh, good! He has processor damage too!" The sarcasm was thick as Knockout looked over the prone mech. "Tell me what hurts," he crooned in a bribing tone.

Scatterblade rolled his optics and vented. "I don't understand... you're helping me?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

He looked himself over and finally saw the equipment in the large space. He grinned though painfully. "Finally got a soft spot?"

"Hardly!" The medic scoffed. "You're just less annoying than them..." his optics flicked toward the service elevator shaft, but he made no other indication about who he was speaking. "Now, seriously. Any warning signs? Anything hurt more than it should?"

The mech just stared at him then shuttered his optics. "Uh..my back. And my chassis."

"Alright, sit up, let me see what I can do." He reached his hand to help Scatterblade sit up. "Go slow. So...how'd you end up here?"

Scatterblade took the Con's hand. He pulled and didn't move much. He grasped the other 'bot with both hands and pulled. His head spun with the effort. "I was at home... they came out of nowhere. I tried to stop them, but there wasn't anything I could do." He paused to vent air over his burning systems. "I was being worked on by a human. He was able to help me get out. But I couldn't get away."

"Hm, sounds about right. The humans seem to have changed the game and didn't tell us all the new rules." Knockout grunted as he got to work on a troublesome spot. "I can tell there was a human in your systems; everything has been...tampered with."

Scatterblade vented again. "I hope he's okay."

"Well, he's either at home safely dreaming about robots, or..." he tweaked a wire that had been shifted out of place, "he's dead. There's no middle ground with these guys."

At first, it shocked him that the humans would do that to their own kind, but what had he been doing all his life? He cycled more air. "So, how have the Cons been handling this?" His asked with a roll of his optics.

"Probably just as well as you lot. I'm here, not out there with them. Though, after Chicago, it isn't like there are a whole lot of us to go around, anyway. Prime pretty well took care of that."

Scatterblade nodded, guilt touching at his spark. "I... wasn't there."

"Neither was I," the mech stated as though it had just been an inconvenient event he had missed. "Probably better that way considering the results." He paused in his work, stood up a little straighter and thought about what he had said. "Maybe not, taking into consideration what's going on now. Maybe it would have been better to of been there and be counted among the deactivated now."

"I don't even know who's on that list," Scatterblade's gaze scrutinized something in the corner of the room. A security camera, he noted dully.

"Oh, I don't really know all the lucky ones. I do know that Megs and Screamer are down and out," he sounded almost amused by the fact. "I know that Autobot scientist - Que I think it was - he's gone. Sentinel got what he deserved as far as I'm concerned. That cannon toting brute was his first victim." Knockout vented dramatically, his voice finally taking on a tone that matched his expression. "It's almost easier to count who's still functioning - which you are, lucky you. You almost weren't."

Scatterblade nearly shot up but only jerked and groaned with the effort. "Ironhide's gone?" He raised a hand to his face. "Oh, Primus..." he mumbled.

"Yeah, guess he never saw it coming," there was a laugh in his voice, but it was meek and forced. "No," he finally grumbled. "There are no Autobots and Decepticons right now as far as I see it. There's just the hunted and the hunters - humans are out for us, and they don't care which side of the line we stand on. And there's not very many of us left anyway..." he tweaked a few more things before moving away. "There. Good as...well, I'd like to say 'new,' but that's just not going to happen. You should feel better anyway." He stood back and studied Scatterblade, a question clear in his optics but he wasn't about to ask. Not here, not where so many could overhear him.

Scatterblade saw the question and wondered about asking for a comm channel but decided against it. If he were hoping for a private conversation, it'd have to wait until they escaped. "Thanks." He offered his first genuine smile since he woke. He stood on wobbly feet just to realize how small this bunker was. He slouched to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. He opted to sit and settled against the wall.

"That the only way out?" He gestured a lazy finger to the elevator.

"Unless you've brought your shovel."

He snorted with a grin. "Not this time." He studied the room once more. "Why did they keep us alive?" His habit for processing out loud was still in full force.

"They didn't. Well, not really anyway. They thought you were deactivated when they tossed you down here. I guess they thought I might teach them something. I don't think anyone informed them that I don't do 'educator.'"

Scatterblade shook his head. "I can't thank you enough. Really, I can't," he said softly.

"You might wish I'd left you alone. Who knows what they have in mind. I was just bored." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"They might still have it in mind," he said, his gaze on the elevator.

"Primus only knows," the medic vented as he moved to a spot where he had apparently made himself comfortable. It wasn't much, but he had claimed what he could and made a suitable seat.

Scatterblade vented deeply and reached toward his bond to Illusory. It was cold and dark, and a spike of panic hit him. He touched it tentatively. 'Lu? Lu, are you there?'

Back in the cave, curled around her sparkling tucked safely near her spark, Illusory's entire frame went stiff at the call. At first, she thought she had to be making it up; her spark had played plenty of tricks on her over the past few orns, and she wouldn't doubt if this was just another. She almost didn't even try to reach back for fear that she would just find the emptiness that had been there since Scatterblade's failed attempt to escape.

'Blade?' She asked defeated, knowing she wasn't going to get a response but willing to try it one more time anyway.

'Lu.' He embraced her presence warming it brightly. 'Are you alright? Tell me you're safe.'

Everything she had been feeling over the past orns poured uncontrollably through their bond to her mate, her spark calling for him to be right there with her and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

The mech felt the flood and nearly lost himself in it.

'We're okay,' she managed through the drowning emotions; fear, grief, and desperation among the top of them. 'Where are you? Ah'm coming for you!'

He pushed past it. 'Lu, please. Listen. You can't be here. I already told you that. They nearly killed me while I was trying to get out. You'll die fighting your way in here.'

An overwhelming wall of pure _need_ slammed through their bond, powered by the fear and grief from before. 'Ah have to!' She cried. 'Ah thought you were gone! Ah...Ah didn't know what to do without you, Ah can't...' her words were full of blind, painful need for his presence.

Scatterblade flinched and took a moment to collect himself. 'I'm so sorry. I hate that you're hurting. I need you, too. But I need you to be safe.'

'Ah can't be safe without you!' She all but yelled already climbing to her feet, fully prepared to abandon the safety of the cave and go after her mate alone. A part of her processor screamed at her that she was being foolish and that she should listen to her mate - after all, she was a spy, not a fighter - but her spark kept telling her that running toward him; wherever that may be, was the right thing to do.

She looked back at the occupants of the cave. Arcee, a small femme who was battle ready but not designed for heavy fire. Jazz who was a saboteur with more skills than any single mech had right to be programmed with, but still not a frontliner or heavy hitter, and the mech was still recovering from whatever injury he hadn't shared with the rest of them. Mirage - a Spy whose key to success was to not get into a fight in the first place. Then there was Rex - an ex-NEST member who had what Illusory was sure to be a permanent limp, and Charlie who had a weaponized Cybertronian arm but minimal training and had never been expected to be a soldier. How were they going to save her mate? She trembled with the mixed emotions and thoughts that demanded that they were all the right ones.

"Lu?" Jazz asked as he came online - the femme's movement alerting him. "What's goin' on?"

Charlie jolted up from her spot next to Rex. She blinked the sleep from her eyes eager to hear what was happening.

Rex woke, looking around for a clue - he figured that something was about to happen, however, what was not clear.

The femme closed her optics, trying - and failing miserably - to rein in her emotions. "Blade," she finally said with a shaky voice.

Charlie jumped to her feet. "Where is he?"

"Not sure..." she turned back to the cave entrance, almost ready to just go and follow the tug in her spark back to her mate.

"Lu, don't do anythin' stupid now. Get as much info as ya can an' we'll get him back." Jazz alerted the other 'bots in the cave with a silent comm, bringing them all online and prepared to chase after Illusory if she bolted.

Scatterblade urged her to stay, sending enough warmth to make up for the orns of silence. 'Please, Lu. Don't do this. I'm okay. I'll still be okay.'

Illusory's systems whined as her processors tried to overcome the emotional overload of her spark. 'Ah can't just stay here an' do nothing,' she pleaded with Scatterblade, though for those looking at her it was unclear what she was thinking or about to do. Her frame trembled, but otherwise, she wasn't moving.

"Did...she just lock up?" Arcee asked, almost amused by the idea, daring to approach the femme. "She's hot," she pointed out as she felt the wave's of heat rolling off Illusory.

"Great," Jazz grumbled, also coming to stand beside the motionless femme, "we got another Prowler on our hands. Can't take the emotional overload." He chuckled to himself, amused by the inside joke. Still, he knew that this wasn't a 'good' thing, though it was beneficial to them at the moment, keeping the femme from running to her mate without thinking. "Lu, if ya can hear meh, do what Ah say an' we'll get through all this."

Illusory's optics darted from Arcee to Jazz, mild panic registering in them. "We're here ta help ya," he reminded her, "find out where he is so we can get started."

'Where are you,' Illusory demanded again.

The mech couldn't ignore the panic he felt from her. He glanced over to Knockout. "Do you have any idea where we are?" He asked nonchalantly.

"In a dank, dark room underground with no good ventilation. Other than that, no, not really."

The mech snorted and faced the wall once more, practically seeing his femme in panic within the paint. 'We're underground. One way out. I was in stasis. I don't know if I was moved.'

'Then Ah have to come. Otherwise, we'll never find you...' she was starting to regain control of herself the more she had something to follow, a sense of purpose and forward motion instead of the stagnant state of not knowing she had been in for so long. "He doesn't know. Underground somewhere."

"Well, that's helpful," Mirage chided.

Arcee glared at him, but the blue mech didn't seem phased by her ire.

"Okay, we'll work on that. How about his condition?" Jazz continued to prompt the femme, ignoring Mirage altogether.

'Are you okay?' She asked, her voice still full of anxiety but a little less irrational now.

Scatterblade groaned but took the question. 'I'm functioning. Actually had help.'

'Help? Who? And what does 'functioning' mean? Are you seriously injured?' Her panic was coming back at all the possibilities that her processors had had ample time to create in the time she sat idle and lost to the world.

"Lu?" Jazz tried to draw her focus out again.

Scatterblade's optics flicked to the Decepticon and back to the wall. 'I was injured. But I'm standing on my own, now.'

"What is she doing?" Rex finally asked Charlie as he came to stand beside her. He thought all this was rather odd; why was the most unstable one of the group the one that the captured mech had contacted? Shouldn't he have commed one of the others? Or all of them together, instead of playing the middle man game?

"Lu and Blade are bonded. They share a spark. Telepathy is part of the package as well as emotions." Charlie explained quickly.

Rex looked at her like he thought she was telling a joke, then it as it sank in with what he already knew of the bots, he realized it wasn't. "Oh...so that's why she's been going bat-shit crazy?" It was almost like everything made sense again. Almost.

"He's functioning," Illusory growled, her emotions unclear to even her. She was relieved, and annoyed, frustrated, confused...mostly she was getting tired of this game when they should have been moving. "Standing on his own, he says. Can we get going?" Illusory demanded finally.

"No," Jazz tried to sooth her, keeping one hand on her arm at all times, though more than likely it was so he could grab her before she ran. "We've got to get everyone on th' same page first an' figure out what we're doin' so we don't all end up stuck where he is."

The femme's anger flared to life. "Ah'm not just gonna sit around!"

Charlie bit her lip in concentration. Then an idea came. "What if someone sneaked in, caused a distraction, and helped Blade blast his way out? It could work."

"It could," Mirage agreed. "Or it could end in someone else being trapped by those cretins."

"Chances are his weapons are disabled if not removed," Arcee added.

Charlie let out a huff of air. "Well, we need to decide on something. We can't keep hiding here and leave him waiting."

Illusory whimpered at the thought. For all, she knew he could end up in pieces before they ever got to him.

"Don't worry," Jazz said softly but firmly. "We're not gonna leave him, Ah promise. We just gotta make sure we don't lose anyone else tryin' ta get ta him. Okay?"

Illusory looked as though she would continue arguing with Jazz but it was Arcee that spoke first.

"What if we have Illusory get us close enough to find him ourselves?" She looked at the other femme to be sure she understood what she meant. "We could use the help finding him, but after that, you would have to stay hidden. You don't have battle class armor and even though you're sneaky, I don't want to take a chance stray weapons fire will hit you."

Jazz vented softly. That sounded good, but would Illusory keep her processors about her when they got close or would her spark win and lead her rushing right into their enemies hands?

"Yes!" Illusory agreed instantly. Everyone could guess she had only listened to the part that she was going to find her mate and the rest had slipped right past her.

A grin grew on Charlie's face. "I'll keep her put."

"Okay," Jazz vented. "Let's get packed up and head out." For some reason he couldn't put a finger on, Jazz just knew this was going to go badly.

Charlie hurried to her backpack and shoved whatever was left of her belongings inside.

'We are coming for you,' Illusory said, her love and determination flowing through their bond.

Scatterblade pleaded with her to stay. 'There aren't any friendlies among the humans, here. Don't let them take you.'

'I will not let them catch me,' she promised.

The mech's shoulders fell. He couldn't stop her. He snorted softly. He _never_ could.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	8. Chapter 8

_WARNING: Dark subjects in this chapter._

* * *

~*~ Chapter Eight ~*~

Day 52

Knockout watched Scatterblade from the corner of his optic, only able to keep his curiosity to himself for about forty-eight hours. "What are you looking so tense about?"

Scatterblade glanced to him and vented slowly. "Just thinking. Hoping someone's okay." He admitted a moment later.

"SomeONE? Or some f..." Knockout snapped his mouth closed, his mocking tease dying immediately. "Guess we all hope someone out there is okay," he admitted.

"That obvious?" He smirked.

"I may have heard rumors." Knockout chuckled.

Scatterblade shook his head. "Why am I surprised..."

Just then the elevator rumbled. Scatterblade went down on one knee as if he meant to bolt for the door.

"Not a good idea," Knockout suggested as he shifted in his seat to not look directly at the elevator. "I'm not fixing you again."

Scatterblade nodded. The fact that the Con was nervous made him all the more confident he needed to get out of here.

The freight doors opened and out stepped a group of men. The man at the head wore a simple pantsuit, his tie loose. His face seemed calculated, and he had a permanently raised eyebrow.

For a few moments, the man didn't speak but his four guards holding long prods advanced placing two per mech between themselves and their employer.

"I don't like dancing around, so I'll get to my point. Where is your counterpart?" The man said slowly.

Scatterblade furrowed his faceplates. "What?"

The man sighed. "Your counterpart. I have studies to finish, and my heads want results."

Scatterblade glared at the man.

Knockout studied Scatterblade, wondering if he wasn't getting the hint or if he was being intentionally dense.

The man sighed. "Alright then." He touched a cord hanging from his ear. "This is Cretton. Please send our guest down."

Cretton watched the mech for a reaction, and his lip twitched upward as Scatterblade tensed, his confusion turning to a growl in his engines.

When the doors to the elevator slid open a large man holding a bound woman by the arm entered the room, directing her as he walked. A sack covered her head and when the man removed it her terrified and gagged face flushed. Her chest heaved as her gaze darted about, blinking off the bright lights. Then her eyes stopped on Scatterblade. Tears streamed down her face, and she smiled passed the gag.

Cretton went to the woman and walked around her, so he was facing the mech again.

She watched him, whipping her short brown hair around as he came out from her opposite side.

Scatterblade looked confusedly between the man and young woman.

"This one was caught with the others, trying to break you out." He looked to the woman then back to the mech. "She seems to know you."

The mech's optics widened. "Charlie." The guards lifted their prods and Scatterblade's advance halted.

Cretton turned back to the woman. "It's been considered treason in your country to aid and abed these criminals. Do you realize that?"

Charlie pulled back her leg and slammed it into the man's shin. Her captor plunged his fist into her stomach in response, dropping her to the floor.

Scatterblade reached for the woman to pull her to safety but the guards converged and sent the electricity pouring through him. He fell to his chassis, clenching his fists to push himself up glaring at the man as he vented heavily.

Knockout was stuck between laughing and mocking the Autobot weakness for humans that let this one affect Scatterblade. He didn't intervene in any of it, however.

Scatterblade shot the Con an angry look and pushed himself to his feet.

Cretton walked off the pain and turned to the mech. "Tell me where I can find your counterpart."

The mech's blue optics flashed hot and white.

Cretton eyed him, chewing his tongue thoughtfully. Then without taking his eyes off Scatterblade, he spoke to the larger man. "Take our guest to my office. She needs a lesson in submission. Take your time, I won't interrupt."

The man grinned as he lifted Charlie to her feet. She moaned through her gag as she tried to focus on the black mech. The man wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her, then grabbed her breast in his other hand. Charlie's eyes widened in fear, she thrashed and screamed for release.

"Get your hands off her!" Scatterblade grabbed for his friend. The prods fell on him again, and he collapsed.

Charlie's screams echoed off the concrete walls as the elevator ascended.

Panic rose, and it only fueled his anger. "Let her go! She's not part of this!"

"I think there's much we can learn from the interesting addition to her body. Might actually have some good come out of your species being here." His sarcasm made the mech's plates rattle.

"She's like you. Why would you-"

"You weren't listening. I could hand her back to the Americans, and they'd likely throw her away for a very long time. But I'm giving her a chance to avoid prison."

"From experience, one cage for another isn't a consolation prize." Scatterblade glowered at the man ready to launch himself again at him.

Cretton shrugged. "Just give me your other half and these things won't be so rough." He turned back to the elevator, the other men slowly flanking him. "She's bound to break before you do. Shall we see if I'm right?" Cretton scrutinized the mech and placed his hands behind his back.

Scatterblade glared at him. Either way, he went, talking or remaining in silence, he would hurt his family. He couldn't choose.

Cretton gave him one last grin before departing.

"Tough spot," Knockout chided. "What will you choose?"

Scatterblade turned on the mech, the temptation too great. "I choose not to rip your head off. Keep your comments to yourself," he growled.

"Well, that's gratitude for you," he vented dramatically. "You think I should have jumped to the rescue like you? Worked out fantastically; don't know why I never thought of it."

Scatterblade vented to ease the anger. "Want me to take it out on you?" He tilted his head, then shook it with a roll of his optics.

"Might make things feel a little more normal at least," the mech grumbled before shifting in his seat again. "They damage anything?"

The question took him by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"The monkeys, did they damage anything on you? I'd rather fix any problems before they become troublesome. What can I say, I'm feeling generous..." He waved his hand in a dismissive way.

"I'm fine," he mumbled.

Knockout shrugged and turned his focus to his frame, using an old worn cloth to buff at blemishes that probably needed a bit more than a good buffing.

Scatterblade turned inward trying to keep the panic on his side of their bond. 'Lu, tell me you're alright.'

'I am fine,' the femme responded groggily. 'What is wrong?'

Illusory had been resting as Jazz had demanded after their all-out rush to get close enough for the saboteur and the spy to scout out the area to attempt to figure out where Scatterblade was being kept. Arcee had taken Charlie into town to get some things the humans needed while Illusory rested with Silverdust. The femme had been too exhausted to fight much, and Silverdust was rather demanding of her femme creator - likely her familial bond feeling overactive due to the lack of her mech creator and the stress Illusory's spark had been going through. Rex had stayed with the femme, saying he would keep an eye on her, but truthfully his leg wasn't healing the way it should, and it was still hurting; a day walking around town had not sounded very appealing.

'Lu... I just saw Charlie...' his regret was thick.

'What?' At first, the words just didn't register in her processor, then as the implication became more evident panic spread through her like fire. 'WHAT!' She instantly scanned the abandoned parking garage they had chosen to stay in for the time it took to scout the area, but the only human life sign there was Rex.

::Arcee!:: She called out, her spark twisting with a new fear.

::What's the matter?:: The other femme answered with concern. ::Has something happened to 'Blade?::

::They have Charlie! How did they get her? Why weren't you watching!?:: Anger and fear warred inside the femme.

::What?:: Arcee scanned the area for any recognizable hostiles but found nothing. ::Frag, I thought she was in there too long...they must have apprehended her inside the store.:: Arcee quickly created a holoform and rushed around the store, looking for anything that might lead her in the right direction. ::Jazz, we've got a situation, what's your status?::

The mech and his partner were tucked away safely waiting for the general chaos to calm down. ::In uh situation o' our own...what happened?::

::Charlie's been abducted! I don't know how they got past me...I'm sorry.::

::Slag!:: The mech growled. ::I knew this was a bad idea...Illusory?::

::Screaming at me over the comms. She hasn't moved, yet.::

::Get back to her now and don't let her run off.::

::Easier said than done, but I'll do my best.::

Illusory continued to rage over the open comms while her engine roared with fury within the parking garage. Rex was trying to get her to talk to him, but she was too busy yelling to listen to him.

Scatterblade shifted against the wall, unfolding his arms and resting his head in his hand, the anger ramming him hard to steady. 'Lu, try to calm down. Think this through, please. Cause I can't.'

After some time of spiraling anger and fear, Illusory finally felt like she had taken all she could take and the emotional rampage died almost instantly. 'Was she at least okay when you saw her?' She asked meekly.

His spark twisted. 'Lu, they want you. They know we're bonded, or think they do. They're interro-' he tried to stop himself, but as raw as they both were now he knew she would know. 'She's being interrogated.'

A cold chill ran through Illusory's spark. Of course she would give herself up in an instant for Charlie, just as she would for Scatterblade, but... 'Do they know about Silverdust?'

'I don't think so. At least he didn't mention her. Please, stay away. I don't know what they have planned. It's bad enough I'm going to be a test subject again, I really can't add you. I can't.'

'Blade...' she all but begged. 'Please, Ah need you...and Charlie. There's gotta be a way.'

'You have to get help. Find someone, anyone! The Cons are targets, too.' Primus, he was desperate.

'Who's left to find?' Grief gripped her once more, memories of Sideswipe deactivating right in front of her haunting her processors. 'Sideswipe is gone...Sunstreaker, Dino...We've been looking for anyone that might be out there, Blade, we have! But...there just isn't anyone answering. It's just me, Jazz, Arcee, and Mirage. And one injured NEST soldier, Rex.'

The mech paused as grief suddenly washed over him. 'Give me some time to think. I'll focus on finding and staying with Charlie. That's all I can do right now.'

Instant denial raced over their bond, she was desperate to get to him, no matter where he was and to go after Charlie; but she was so worn out, emotionally and physically, that the part of her processor that could comprehend the situation in a practical way won over everything else. 'Okay,' She agreed defeated, 'but I'm not giving up. I can't keep going on without you, it hurts.'

'I know.' His spark had been heavy since he woke up in this bunker. The pain he'd complained about before wasn't physical; he saw that now. 'It's going to be alright.'

'I am going to hold you to that,' she teased weakly, trying very hard to find something to brighten the darkness that seemed to be smothering them all.

Scatterblade sent her warm waves and held tightly to her essence. He vented and leaned his head against the wall. The pain in his spark was draining.

"You should probably recharge. Can't imagine you're systems are handling all this very well," Knockout called from his corner. "Never know when they're coming back either. It's like they don't even know what time is."

He nodded and shut off his optical sensors.

It wasn't even four joors later when the elevator began to rumble. Scatterblade shot to his feet and slammed his head into the ceiling. He fell to one knee grabbing his head, grunting with pain.

"Careful," Knockout commented, still sitting in his corner.

He threw a withering look to the Con before letting his hand drop and turning to the door.

Cretton didn't make an appearance. The larger man from before, dragged Charlie behind him, two guards with him armed with prods.

The mech glared at him but didn't move forward. He glanced to Charlie and tried hard not to wince. She was barely stumbling behind the man, her hands gripping the hand on her left arm pulling her along. Sweat shined on her face, a bruise just below her right eye, her upper lip split, and swelling.

The guards kept Scatterblade still while the man deposited the girl in a heap before him. The man gave one sneering chuckle to which Charlie curled in on herself, before turning back to the elevator.

When the doors closed, Scatterblade gently scooped the woman up. She immediately latched onto his thumb.

"Charlie, I'm so sorry." He brought her close to his face, trying to assess the damage as best he could.

She trembled in his hands and tried to speak. "I'll be...okay. I didn't...didn't tell them. I'm okay."

Scatterblade vented, sending warm air onto her cold body. "You're not fine." That's when he smelled the iron. His optics widened. "You're bleeding. Where is it? What's wrong?"

Charlie shook her head vigorously. "It's-it's not what...you..." she began hyperventilating, and the mech helped ease her. When she could speak, she said, "I-I'll be okay. I'll be..." she choked on a sob.

It didn't make sense. She was too traumatized to be fine, and there was too much blood. He ran a quick scan of the woman. Scatterblade's processor spun going through everything he'd learned about human biology. He found what he was looking for, then vented in shock. "Charlie..."

The woman began to sputter out her mantra, "Everything will be okay, I'm fine, I'm going to be alright."

Scatterblade ran his finger down her back. "Charlie, stop being brave. I'm here. You don't have to be brave anymore."

She looked up at him and broke. Gripping tighter to him she cried and cried.

Scatterblade sent Illusory the update. 'I have Charlie. They brought her down here. I don't know why, or what their game is, but I swear to you, I'm not letting her go again.'

Back in the abandoned parking garage, things were far from sedate. Arcee was all but hiding from Illusory, who - while not openly attacking the other femme was certainly not hiding her displeasure with her.

Jazz had become mediator trying to compound all the information they had into something useful and keeping Illusory from getting so wound up she took off on her own. Mirage was trying once more to gain any communication with any Cybertronian on the planet, and Rex was limping in a circuit around Illusory, grumbling at his lack of foresight and how he should have kept to his duty instead of giving into his injury.

When Illusory got the update from her mate, she vented a little. 'How bad is it?' She knew it wasn't all well and good or Scatterblade would have said so first. At least she was alive, that much Illusory was certain of.

Scatterblade vented slowly both warming the human who was almost asleep and preparing himself for the topic. 'She's a little bruised but, whole,' he said slowly, 'Lu, a man... raped her,'

Illusory did not recognize the word but knew it was nothing good. She searched for it using what internet she was able to access from here and immediately regretted it, her shock allowing her rapid download to continue to fill her processor with worse and worse information around the subject. Her systems screamed with the added stress of the uninhibited download. Across the bond washed the sense of dread, disgust, and very violent anger.

Jazz spun on the femme the moment the high pitched sound hit his sensitive audials, and he knew only a klik later what the sound was.

"Ya gotta be fraggin' kiddin' me!" He all but collapsed beside the femme, seeking a port he could get to her processors through and help slow the download until it could be stopped.

"What the Hell is that?" Rex had to shout to be heard over the sound.

"Rapid download," Mirage explained, his work interrupted by the disruptive sound. "Femme got an illegal upgrade that won't let her stop downloading once she starts."

"What is she downloading at a time like this?" Rex demanded, slapping his hands over his ears as the sound kept getting louder.

It was a while before Jazz got a good enough hold on the system to help the femme bring it down to a more manageable level for her already taxed and drained systems. His shock at what she had been researching only paled in comparison to what it implied.

"Rape..." he informed the others within the garage. Silence overwhelmed them all as they each took the time to put the implications together and what it all meant.

Once Illusory could put words together, she latched onto the bond with her mate and demanded to know who it was. She was going to murder the man, to the Pit with laws and morals. There had been enough abuse against her fellow bots, but to do this to Charlie was it.

'I don't know his name. But I do know his face,' he said darkly taking in her rage and panic to fuel his own. 'She's at a stage of her cycle that...I don't know much, but she may get pregnant,' he hated to admit.

Illusory's rage grew into something all-consuming. She screamed aloud, causing everyone within the parking garage to jump; Rex dove for cover, fearing a more physical outburst to follow, but none came. The femme collapsed to the ground, her armor flicking between being tight and safe and allowing the heat of her frame to escape. She knew what she wanted to do; now she just had to figure out how to do it.

'We need more information,' she admitted to her mate with a hint of guilt to her words. 'We have got to find others or the quickest way to get you two out of there. I've got to hack the systems.'

Everything screamed within him to stay quiet, but the pain he kept causing her with each new piece of information was searing through him. It took everything in him not to slam his fists into the wall. Charlie still clung to his finger. 'What do you need to hack them?'

'Just a line to get me into their systems is all, my upgrades will take it from there.'

'A physical line?'

'Any line. If I can get a data-stream of any kind, I can get into it.'

'I might be able to do that.' He turned his head to Knockout. "Do you know if the signal reaches down here?" He asked.

"What kind of signal? Comms don't work down here if that's what you're looking for."

He gestured to the camera with a nod. "That's gotta broadcast somewhere."

"Security, most likely." Knockout slumped in his chair a little deeper, outwardly looking like he could care less about what Scatterblade was up to, but there was a definite interest in his optics. "I doubt you'd get anything beyond the base on any of those lines."

Scatterblade grinned. 'Would you be able to use me to get to their systems? Unless you know where the base is...'

'I...do not know, cannot say I have ever tried over a bond link before. It is worth a try; I will ask Jazz for his assistance, seeings how he is already linked into my rapid download systems.' The femme relayed her plan to the saboteur over the connection he had established. Jazz was uncertain if it would work either, but thought that of all the options available to them, this was the best if it worked.

Scatterblade stood and placed Charlie in the crook of his arm. He then walked over to the security camera and stretched resting his hand on the ceiling. A few cables slithered into the mechanisms of the camera without damaging the equipment. 'Try it out.'

'This may feel strange,' the femme warned, 'try to hold on as long as you can.' Illusory drew on their bond as hard as she could, guiding Scatterblade to the proper channels through what he was showing her and managed to set up a sub-frequency signal that she could hack the rapid download into, using Scatterblade as the hub. Soon, the system took over Illusory; Jazz did his best to help keep it at a slower pace so that Scatterblade wouldn't be entirely blindsided by the process and so that Illusory's already taxed systems wouldn't overheat drawing the information through a third party.

Scatterblade felt disjointed, his body almost going numb with the effort, but his hold on Illusory kept him tethered.

Because of the very indirect connection, the rapid download took much longer than Illusory was used to and put a huge drain on her systems. Jazz finally called a stop to it when he felt she had gone too long and he helped her shut down the rapid download. 'Ah've gotta recharge,' the femme apologized to her mate once they were both aware enough to register each other, 'but we got a lot - Jazz will sort it an' we'll know what we're doin' by the time Ah come back online.'

The mech was dizzy, and when the femme ended her search, he slid down the wall cradling Charlie close to his chassis. 'Take your time, love.' He vented running his finger down the woman's back. "Please, be okay."

Charlie lifted her head. "I just need to sleep it off..."

Scatterblade shook his head as she fell back to sleep.

Despite Illusory's assurances that she could have done far better with a direct connection, Jazz found his hands full enough with information to keep him and Mirage plenty busy while the femme recharged. While there was a small voice in his processor screaming that they move quickly, he also knew he had to let the femme rest. She hadn't been recharging well for a long time now and with the added drain of racing across the continent several times, supporting her sparkling, suffering from bond separation, and now two rapid downloads in a row - one very abnormal and extra taxing - there simply was no way he was going to dare imply she move before she had rested as much as she would. He only hoped that Scatterblade and Charlie could wait that long.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	9. Chapter 9

Just a quick note: In case you haven't noticed yet there is a little bit of a mashup going on here. As we picked up this story and moved forward, we found a need for more available characters and instead of creating a huge cast of OCs, we decided to drag in a few characters from the Transformers multiverse. This continues throughout the story.

Also a note on Hound: they Michael Bay Hound is not the Hound most of us grew up with, so with some debating between myself and Roudyredd, we decided to dub him Bulkhead and allow our Hound to continue on more like the Hound most of us know. Hope that clears up some things.

* * *

~*~ Chapter Nine ~*~

Day 54

Charlie rested for quite some time, and it seemed that the humans had forgotten them down in the dark basement of discarded things.

Scatterblade watched her and kept her warm for hours. He even managed to clean her up a bit, smoothing out her dark hair with the same tendrils he had used to hack the camera.

Knockout watched the interaction with mixed humor and disgust. "What's so special about that one?" He asked, his voice held a sneer, but his expression was genuine interest.

The look he gave made Scatterblade grin softly. "First one I ran into. And she wasn't scared."

"Clearly it has no common sense," he grinned slightly as he stood from his chair, his joints creaking a little from such a long time without moving. He hardly got any movement in this place and had been here far too long for anything good. "Is it going to live?" He peered down at the small creature tucked against Scatterblade's frame. He hadn't ever taken much interest in the humans, as far as he was concerned they were annoying - even more so now - and generally gross. The only thing he did enjoy about them was their appreciation for fine vehicles and speed.

"Yeah, but I doubt she'll be the same. Before she met us, the only thing she ever worried about was school." Guilt fell heavily in his tone. He had known this life wouldn't be good for her, but no amount of telling her ever changed her mind.

"Pity," and for some reason not even he understood, Knockout meant it. Despite that he didn't mind a little violence when necessary, he was still a medic, and his base coding hated to see anyone hurt for no reason.

Scatterblade looked up at him and just studied the Con for a long moment. Then he leaned his head against the wall to let his frame relax in something as close to recharge as he felt he could get in this place.

When Charlie began to stir the mech sat up, supporting the woman gently. She stretched before her eyes opened. For a moment she stared at the ceiling unable to recognize where she was. Then she saw Scatterblade and rolled slowly to push herself to her feet. "Blade," her voice was weak, but she managed a smile. "Hi," she said rather lamely.

"How are you feeling?"

Charlie grabbed her right elbow, folding her arms tightly. "Sore. My face hurts."

"You've got a nice shiner."

She chuckled humorously.

"How'd you get so lucky as to join us here?" Knockout asked the obvious question, though he could guess the answer.

Charlie jumped at the voice of a new 'bot. "I had to get some supplies. Who are you?" She inched close to Scatterblade's thumb as she looked over the new mech.

"Knockout," he stated rather plainly, as though everyone should know who he was. "So your Autobot friends just let you out on your own? That wasn't very smart," he looked at Scatterblade, judging how his comment would be taken.

The mech glared at him.

"Arcee went with me. I was supposed to be quick. Just bandages, pain killers and..." her face flushed red. "Necessities."

"And what will they do now, do you suppose? Think they might try a little harder to find you both?" There was a faint, almost entirely negligible note of hope in his voice, but the look on his face was pure disdain. "Get themselves caught, too?" The medic vented and returned to slump in his chair again. "It's all rather pointless if you ask me."

Charlie shied away from his pessimism, finding it contagious.

"I think you'll be surprised," Scatterblade said, the former annoyance with the Con gone, for now.

"I doubt that," Knockout grumbled, but decided not to point out all the ways a 'rescue' could go bad; especially not mentioning that his femme would likely be among them.

Charlie sat in Scatterblade's palm and curled her legs to her chest.

The elevator started to rumble once more. Scatterblade shielded the human and scrambled to the other side of the room. When the doors slid open, the mech transformed around Charlie, locking her safely inside. She yelped in surprise but did not protest.

Cretton was joined by his guards, new faces that didn't look afraid of the Cybertronians in the least. Cretton's eyebrow raised further. "Hiding, are we? I really don't think this will work out well..." The guards jabbed the black Bonneville with their prods. Scatterblade took the abuse. His interior was safe, he'd worry about fried circuits later.

A grin tugged on Cretton's face. His hands rested in his pockets, and when he pulled out his right hand, he held a small black box with a knob and a button. He pressed it, and Charlie shook uncontrollably, a gasping cry escaping her. "Interesting attachment she has. Made some modifications to it already. Just call it insurance."

Scatterblade panicked. "Stop!"

"You've had your time to see she wasn't harmed."

The mech's engine roared. "Wasn't harmed?!"

Charlie panted when the shock ended, pushing herself back up in her seat.

"She comes back to answer questions, and I stop hitting the button."

Scatterblade's engine growled with anger and transformed, holding Charlie in one hand and slamming the other into the ground. "Enough! You're so intent on getting answers; you get them from me. You touch her again; I promise I'll kill you." He vented heavily blasting the man with hot air.

Cretton's eyebrow fell. The two males glared at each other. Finally, he pulled his men back. "Leave her here," he instructed the men.

Charlie clung to the 'bot, refusing to be let down. "Blade, please, don't!" she sobbed. He put her down in the far corner of the room.

"I'm not letting you get hurt again." He transformed and drove into the service elevator.

Cretton's guards barricaded Charlie from following, snapping their electrified weapons. When the doors closed, she slammed her metal fist against them anger burning white.

Knockout sat stunned for several minutes, listening to Charlie's anger vent itself on the doors before he stood and approached her somewhat awkwardly. "You should probably stop that, you'll hurt yourself more..." a quick scan showed him the thing Cretton had mentioned in the false arm the human wore, and yet again he was a little surprised. "Maybe you should let me look at that," he pointed to her mechanical arm but made no further advancement toward the woman.

Charlie pounded the door one more time, resting her forehead on the steel. She turned back to the red mech, breathing heavily trying not to cry. She lifted her arm and winced at the shape it was in. "Okay," she mumbled as she walked to him.

Knockout wasn't really sure how to handle the human, but knelt down to her level and started working on the artificial arm. There were many things he didn't understand about it, but as a whole he did. "Ratchet's handiwork?" He asked to make conversation. The silence was starting to get to him.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. He almost didn't want to do it. But Blade and Lu talked him into it." She didn't know why she was telling him. Maybe to help distract her; she was good at finding distractions.

"Hmm." Knockout was rather impressed with the work; the fusion of flesh and metal was fantastic, however, it also made some things not so easy to repair. Still, he did the best he could with what he had and found the device Cretten had implanted.

Charlie watched him work, relieved once he removed the offending piece. "Why haven't I met you before? I'm mean, I definitely haven't met all of you, but I've heard a lot of names. Just not yours."

"Probably because I don't run in the same circle as your friends." He said noncommittally.

Charlie gave him a guarded look. She studied him for a moment. He was very similar to many of the mechs she had seen. Though where all the Autobots she knew had blue optics, Knockout's were red. It seemed a little unusual, but then Illusory's were yellow.

Then an emblem caught her attention, the symbol of the Autobots she'd grown so accustomed to wasn't there. Another face adorned his shoulder, very angular and angry.

"Are you a Decepticon?" The fear in her voice spread to her eyes.

"Was, " he corrected with a tone that said it wasn't really his choice not to be anymore. "Seems there's no point in being one now or an Autobot for that matter. We're all the same in the human optic, aren't we?"

The fear turned to pity. Then she dropped her gaze. "Yeah. I guess."

"At any rate, I've done what I can for your arm. Sorry, I'm not an organic specialist or anything, so I can't do much else for you." He stood and went back to his chair.

"Thank you," she called after him. Noise from the elevator made her jump, and she scurried away. The mech didn't seem to want company, but she sat by the wall closer to his corner, anyway. _She_ needed the company. "He shouldn't have done that..." she mumbled, folding her arms and rested her chin on them.

"It's typical. He never was one to let others take the brunt of it all."

"You knew him?"

"Once, many, many vorns ago. Before he was...well, what he is."

"Before the war?" Charlie sat up instantly intrigued.

"I suppose. The war was probably in its civil stage at the time. It's hard to remember 'before' the war."

Charlie nodded. Anytime she asked about it; she got vague answers. "So, why did you...end up on opposite sides?" She tried to ask delicately.

"Politics," he shrugged. "Megs had a good speech. He knew what 'bots wanted to hear and he had a way with words."

"Did you ever regret it?" Her tone was soft almost apologetic for prying.

"Sometimes," his memories drifted through the vorns - friends he had lost and the casual way their deactivations were dealt with by his faction. Knockout vented softly as he slumped deeper into his chair.

The elevator reached the top and Scatterblade's engine rumbled quietly. Cretton led the way, a guard stood at each corner of the vehicle prods at the ready in case the mech bolted.

The door opened to reveal a large hall stretching for several hundred feet before them. There were no doors that led outside the building and a quick scan of the place showed a very old infrastructure, over a vorn old.

They were leading him down the core of the building. There were many rooms accessible by this hallway, most of them labs and offices. A few doors from the end of the hallway Cretton stopped. Scatterblade revved his engine punctuating that his threat was still in play.

The man pulled a keycard from his jacket pocket and the door began opening, sliding aside to allow the mech entrance. "After you."

Scatterblade transformed and stood. "What do you want?" He asked as he walked into the room.

A frame stood at the far corner of the room. Several shackles lay open on the crisscrossed steel, places for appendages and one toward the top of the frame, almost at his optics height. He glared down at the man, not willing to turn his back on the contraption as a cold chill ran his whole frame. He could guess what was about to happen.

Cretton pulled a cigar and a match book from his coat, a smug grin on his face. "Just want a clearer look at you. None of the subjects we've gotten have been in working order so we couldn't stress the mechanics of your species. We need to know limits, strengths," he grinned and bit on to the cigar, "and weaknesses."

Scatterblade scowled. "You'd get more from me if you just ask. Some of your men are capable of it."

Cretton's grin deepened. "Not anymore."

The mech growled and pulled back his hand to swat him into the wall, but the guards converged, each hitting him with their prods. Scatterblade fell to his knees, the electricity running through him on a loop. He braced the fall with his hands and tried to ground himself, anything to drain the charge.

Cretton cleared his throat, and the prods shut down. Scatterblade vented heavily, lifting his head with a growl. Cretton nodded once more, and Scatterblade bent under another barrage of electricity, crying out as the pain flooded him. Some of it slipped over his bond, his spark needed to release the painful energy before he could close the gates.

Scatterblade vented heavily blinking the pain from his processor. He vaguely registered a command and a clamp grinding into his arms, forcing him to his feet. Heavy machine sounds blared in his audials, and the mech was secured into the steel frame, clamps on his arms and legs. When his optical sensors came back online, he saw a cherry picker carrying a woman. He panicked immediately seeing Charlie there, but as she directed another cuff under his chin and around his neck, his senses cleared the picture.

The frame splayed Scatterblade out forcing his head straight, unable to see what was happening near his feet.

A sharp stab lit up at the base of his neck. It was just as Victor had done, a crude hack into his processor.

"We need to separate the plating from the base material," Cretton instructed his team. "You may begin."

A powerful whirring filled the large space, and Scatterblade jerked as it tore into his leg. Biting back a scream wasn't possible, not after the multiple electrocutions sent his circuits reeling.

Illusory screamed with the sudden shock of pain, flailing desperately to get away from whatever was causing it. It only took a few kliks for her to realize she wasn't being attacked directly and that the pain was pulsing over her bond with Scatterblade, and then there was nothing.

"No!" She screamed, scrambling to her feet, ready to chase after her bond mate, but hands grabbed at her, stopping her from moving forward. There were voices talking to her too, but the only thing she knew was that Scatterblade was hurting and she couldn't feel him anymore and that someone was stopping her from going to him. She fought hard against them until she was thrown to the ground forcefully, two frames pinning her there. She felt a presence join in her processor and a question pressed to her that she could only keen Scatterblade's name to before she felt a cold serenity slip through her systems and she was offline.

Jazz growled viciously as he disconnected from the femme, hating that he had to force her into stasis like that, but he was certain there was no other option.

"Something's happened ta 'Blade; we've gotta move soon or..." he glanced at the still femme and her sparkling churring at her softly as if she could comfort her femme creator's screaming spark.

"Then let's go," Arcee voted, "she won't be any good for us now, and we have all the information we need."

"Suicide," Mirage snapped, "we don't have the strength to make this mission work."

Jazz nodded his head with agreement. "We need somebot else..."

If she had to guess, she would say at least a day had gone by without any movement or noise from the service elevator. Charlie gripped her side and shifted against the wall. She didn't remember the last time she'd had food.

"So..." Knockout started, tired of the silence again, "How'd you meet Scatterblade?"

"I met him through Lu," she said softly. "He was running from ET's- I mean, Decepticons." She looked away from him nervously. "They had been...experimenting on him, and he escaped."

"Heard about that," Knockout mused. "Some scientists were pretty pissed off that he escaped." He shrugged as though it mattered very little to him.

"They took parts of him and made a pretender. It almost _killed_ me..." she shuddered at the memory.

"That sounds incredibly uncomfortable," Knockout cringed, thinking about such mutilations made him sick to his tanks. "Never did understand the science types...they had the strangest ideas and obsessions."

"We almost lost him," Charlie told him about the episode with the Decepticon technology. How Illusory and Scatterblade had grown so close and were nearly never united.

"So, there is more to them," he sounded interested, then his expression changed to deep contemplation and worry. "Well, what they do is their business, not anyone else's."

Charlie nodded, looking up at him with a weak smile. The red mech was surprising her the more they talked. How many other Decepticons didn't want to keep fighting? How many others just wanted a new home like the Autobots? "We all lived together before-" she shrugged. "They mean a lot to me." Charlie folded her arms around her knees again worry knotting her stomach. Maybe it was hunger, too.

"Welcome to the real world," he grumbled, "where if what you care about is anything but yourself, you'll get hurt."

"You learned it the hard way, huh?" Charlie raised an eyebrow at him.

Knockout gave her his look of superiority, a snarky comment ready to go, but something just clicked, and he let it all fall. "Yeah," he admitted miserably.

"I'm sorry."

He waved her comment off. "Don't be."

She shrugged with a short laugh, "It's kind of my MO, but I'll try."

"Well, now that we've got the touchy-feely out of the way..." He looked around the small room, "we should find something more interesting to do."

"Like breaking out?" Charlie shook her head.

"If only," he said, rolling his optics. "That elevator is the only way in or out."

"So why not pry it open and climb up?" Charlie sat up straighter.

"You don't think that's a little too straightforward? Surely they expect that."

"Probably from you. But I could sneak around. They don't know everything about my arm," she grinned.

A spark of hope glimmered in the mech's optics. "Well aren't you the sneaky one?" He looked at the camera still in the room. "It won't be easy."

"We could just take a page out of Wheeljack's book. A little distraction..."

"Hmm, what do you have in mind?"

"You've got plenty of equipment. Just make something that causes a lot of smoke, knock em out, grab the keys and run."

"Just make something?" He laughed. "What do you think I am?" Still, he got up and started looking through the things cluttering the room.

The woman shrugged. "An advanced alien race with a higher processor power than I have?"

Knockout paused and studied Charlie for a minute. "I like you," he said finally before continuing his search.

"Yay, I won't get called, insect," Charlie waved a finger in the air a smile spreading on her face.

Knockout chuckled at the human. He dragged a few things around and began tinkering with them. Before long something was coming together. "Here's hoping," he said at last.

The woman nodded. "Grab the prods so they can't zap ya," she suggested.

"Never would have thought of that..." he said sarcastically.

Charlie stuck out her tongue and scrunched up her nose. "Ready when you are."

"I don't think any of us are really ready, but no use in waiting." Knockout activated his makeshift device and appeared honestly surprised when it worked.

Charlie covered her mouth and stood near the elevator as smoke filled the room. It didn't take long for the elevator to start moving and three men rushed in, gunning for the mech. Charlie swiftly slammed her right arm into one of them and threw her body into another. In the confusion, she was able to circle the men in the smoke.

Knockout quickly stole their prods away, only getting a partial shock from one of them that made him stumble slightly.

The smoke began to clear, and Charlie shifted her arm to her gun. "Hand over your key. Now."

Knockout revved his engine angrily, a genuine smile on his face for the first time in a very long time. This felt good, finally paying back these humans for some of the pain he had gone through. He made sure the other two men stayed down while Charlie threatened the third.

"I'd do what she says," he advised loftily, "she's got some anger issues to deal with."

Charlie pulled the hammer back.

The soldier glared at her, but his fear for his life won out. He held up the keycard. Charlie chuckled and shook her head. "Slide it to me." She snatched the card as it slid across the floor, then flicked the gun toward the wall. "Move."

The man complied quickly, clearly understanding that the power had shifted for the time.

"Got any spare metal to keep these guys put?"

Knockout grabbed some re-bar that had been tossed in the room for whatever parts he might have needed and warped it enough to bind the three men together tightly, if not a little uncomfortably. "It would be easier just to deactivate them."

"What level do they have Blade?" Charlie asked, her weapon held to her side.

The men were silent.

Charlie bent down to their level. "You heard him..." she hissed, nodding her head in Knockout's direction. "There's really not much keeping him from killing you. Now. Where is he?"

"You're a traitor to your kind," the middle one spat.

"Yeah. Yeah, boohoo. Tell me what level and you will get out of here. You don't..." She left the threat open.

The men stayed silent. Charlie glanced to the elevator. They couldn't take demanding answers forever. "Let's go."

Knockout transformed revving his engine once before sliding into the elevator. "Good riddance!" He cheered with a lot of dark mirth and a little glee.

Charlie smiled and followed after. "How far do your scans reach? Let's find Blade and get out."

"Hmm, in this place, not far enough. Finding him is going to be the hard part I think." The mech did his best to stretch his scans out farther, his engine rumbling with nervous anxiety about wasting time even looking for the other mech, but he had put a lot of work into keeping Scatterblade online in the first place...and they hadn't always been enemies.

As the elevator reached the top level, a loud rumbling explosion rocked the base as a whole, sending tremors through the floor and rocking the elevator on its cables. "Get out!" Knockout demanded transforming as the doors screeched partially open and shoved them apart.

Charlie ran, sliding into the hall.

The cables in the elevator broke, Knockout just managing to pull himself beyond the shaft before the elevator car went crashing back to the sub-basement that he had been trapped in for so long. "What the Pit is going on here?" He demanded as he looked around.

More explosions and the distinct sound of weapons fire echoing from outside.

Charlie covered her ears through the noise. "Backup!" She laughed, jumping into the air. "Let's find an exit!"

Instead of looking relieved, Knockout only looked more worried. Backup? More Autobots? How likely was he to survive this 'rescue'? "This hall is pretty straight forward," he pointed out.

The woman heaved a sigh before hurrying onward. People were scrambling from the building; many just looked like civilians. They took a look at the charging red mech and ran for the hills. Charlie got swept up in the flood of people.

Grumbling something about not losing the one human he tolerated, Knockout paused long enough to fetch Charlie from the crowds and set her on his shoulder. "Hold on; I'd hate for you to fall to an untimely demise."

The woman nodded, clutching to the mech's frame. Her eyes darted to the signs of smoke and gathering soldiers for Jazz or Illusory, praying that the femme wasn't anywhere near the fighting.

Knockout was suddenly knocked over, violently thrown to the floor, Charlie scooped from his shoulder and only slightly more gently deposited on the ground before a blue mech shimmered into existence pinning the medic to the floor with a blade pressed against his main energon line. "What have you done with Scatterblade, 'Con?" Mirage growled dangerously.

Knockout was so stunned; he couldn't say anything at first. Mirage grew more annoyed and pressed with the blade, causing energon to leak from a small nick.

The woman ran to the mech. "Mirage! No! Blade's still inside." She slammed her fists into his leg to get his attention.

Mirage looked at the small woman, his optics focusing on her injuries. "And he was going to run without him like the coward he is," he accused, his voice full of seething disgust. "Leaving Scatterblade to suffer, so long as you escaped, right?"

"No!" Knockout seemed to find his voice finally. "I was actually going to try and save him..." he couldn't hide the shock he felt at his own words. He was going to try to save the Autobot frontliner, despite what self-preservation had demanded. "That is until you lot came along."

"We can hash out details later. You need to hurry," Charlie glared at Mirage.

The blue mech glared at Knockout, then at Charlie before releasing the Decepticon medic. "Fine, but if he kills you, it is not my fault."

Knockout vented in relief, rubbing one hand over the small cut on his neck to check how bad it was. "I wouldn't give you the pleasure," the medic grumbled, climbing back to his feet.

Charlie sighed and bent over to catch her breath. "Let's get away from this mess. Find the sideline."

"That way," Mirage pointed. "The humans are fleeing in the opposite direction; it will make it easier to find somewhere to hide."

"Thanks. Let's go." She urged the red mech on.

Knockout picked Charlie back up and ran in the direction Mirage had indicated, the blue mech following close behind. Once they found a place to stop out of sight, Knockout set Charlie back on the ground.

"Jazz wants to know what your plan is," Mirage stated unhappily.

"Plan?" Knockout laughed. "Does any of this look like we had a plan?"

"We got as far as getting out of that basement. We were going to find 'Blade and get him out."

"That's all well and good except for the part where Scatterblade is not out here in the bushes," Mirage quipped.

Knockout groaned, placing one hand on his head dramatically. "Oh, dear, what _would_ we do without you?"

"He's still inside. I got caught up in everyone getting out. So, stop trying to pick a fight, and get in there!" All the frustration and worry whipped out of her like steam.

Knockout nodded in agreement, turning his optics back to the compound they had just escaped, his processors screaming at the thought of going back inside for any reason; let alone for saving a once-enemy. Still, in his spark and his medical coding, he knew it was the right thing to do, and damned if he was going just to let another mech deactivate without a care.

Mirage vented with frustration but turned his focus back on the base. "Any ideas where we should look?"

Charlie closed her eyes and pressed both hands to her head. There was a point that she had been able to look down, see her feet from under the sack over her head. There were only three stories though it didn't seem like it was two floors. The ceiling had been tall enough for Knockout to stand in. She opened her eyes. "Try the second floor."

"Very well," Mirage shimmered out of sight and left no indication where he might be going.

"Easy enough for him," Knockout grumbled. "I suppose he expects me to follow..." he started after the invisible mech, trying to stay as out of sight as possible. He paused and looked at Charlie. "You should probably stay here and, you know, not get squished."

Charlie nodded, resting a hand on a tree. "That's the plan."

With a nod of approval, Knockout snuck back toward the compound, finding his way inside and then up to the second floor. He could only assume that the Autobot spy had made it this far quickly enough, the hard part was figuring out which door Scatterblade was behind. Deciding that stealth wasn't much of a benefit at this point, the medic started pushing through any door that looked like a mech could fit through.

Mirage came upon the locked door long before Knockout, but when the medic finally approached, Mirage looked entirely displeased. "Can't get through," he informed his current comrade-by-circumstance. Cretton mobilized his men the minute security reported the breakout. The doors were fortified, and he focused his efforts on moving the mech for transport.

"Coded or barricaded?"

"Both," Mirage grumbled. "Jazz and Hound are on their way, we've just got to be sure nobody gets out," the mech glanced at the medic beside him. "You can fight, can't you?"

"I do know a thing or two," he transformed his hand into what would normally be a rather helpful medical tool, but used improperly was an efficient weapon; "and I do have a few less morals than you," he admitted with a shrug.

Inside, Scatterblade was leaking energon, medical nanites unable to keep up. The pain pulsed throughout his frame, his emergency systems warning of stasis. He had wanted to succumb joors ago, but the hack had prevented that as well as forced him to feel every nanoklik of pain. He was barely hanging onto consciousness when the tearing in his legs stopped, and the frame that held him began to tip and lie flat. The mech watched helplessly as he went completely horizontal, the ceiling started to open above him. He could hear an inbound helicopter.

Cretton climbed the stairs to the roof, his bodyguard waving the chopper into place.

Jazz slid in between the two mechs trying to open the door and started working on the locking code just kliks before Hound came rumbling down the hall, guns prepped to take out the heavy duty doors.

"Clear out!" The dirty green mech warned, and Mirage needed no more direction as he dove away, Knockout not much behind him. Jazz covered himself as best he could without releasing the locking codes. The first strike against the door shook loose some of the walls and bearings, but the door stood firm, so Hound prepared to hit it again.

The room shook violently, and many of the guards and scientists paused in terror. They rushed their duties, gathering data from hard drives, or preparing to defend the door. Cretton was on the roof with several men, directing the thick cables descending from the helicopter.

Hound's second strike fell at the same moment Jazz's hack broke the codes, and the doors flew open with the powerful impact, knocking them askew on their tracks. Jazz wasted no time slipping in with the chaos and finding a high point where the humans couldn't reach him to assess the room. Mirage had gone invisible again and took the path of least resistance towards the center of everything.

Hound held his spot outside the doors, prepared to fire again. Knockout spotted Cretton almost immediately, his engine revving with pure anger and hate, he targeted the man, having no shame in swatting aside humans with prods before they got enough sense to coordinate and take him down.

Cretton climbed into the chopper, shouting at the men to hurry. The cords were secured and the large aircraft lifted, taking the mech with it.

Knockout jumped on the frame holding Scatterblade, anger driving him on. "Hold on," he warned Scatterblade, "this might get a little rough." He used his tools to cut the lines holding the frame, causing it to twist and topple and throwing the helicopter off balance in the process.

Mirage appeared as he made a calculated leap for the twisting structure, landing roughly and sending everything into a worsening spiral. The single line threatened to snap, but as the helicopter pilot fought for control, the frame landed bucking the two mechs. Mirage tucked and rolled away to safety; Knockout was flung into machinery causing electricity to arc across his frame. Jazz took aim at the helicopter, only taking kliks to consider the lives within before judging them not worthy of his concerns and fired at the machine. The helicopter spun upon impact and spiraled away from the building.

Knockout rolled from the sparking machinery, his coding driving him to check on the mech strapped to the crashed frame. Hound was beside him in a flash, helping the medic along while Jazz and Mirage made quick work of the remaining humans that refused to run like the others had.

Scatterblade offlined his optics to get the world to stop spinning. Everything ached, and his systems burned with terrible heat. When his equilibrium recovered, he looked about at the mechs. He managed to strain a smile. "What took you so long?"

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	10. Chapter 10

~*~ Chapter Ten ~*~

Day 55

Charlie watched in surprise as the chopper headed in her direction. Outrunning the flaming vehicle was hard enough. Black fireflies swarmed her vision as her body threatened to black out. She ducked behind a tree, covering her ears from the monstrous sound of the crash. When she peeked out from behind the tree, she saw two figures crawl from the wreckage.

Cretton's suit was torn and on fire. His bodyguard stamped it out before pulling the man to his feet. Charlie went stiff when she saw him, her memories overwhelming her. They spotted her before she could bolt. When sense came back to her, she turned. The guard caught her quickly enough, yanking her into the air, her arms pinned to her side. She screamed, kicked and swearing as much as she could.

Cretton led his man to the compound's gate. The guard covered Charlie's mouth and hefted her higher to fix his grip.

Jazz's head snapped around as if someone had punched him, his sensitive audios picking up a voice he recognized over the din of everything else and he was gone in a flash, Mirage following only after he made sure that the remaining bots would be safe.

Knockout looked over Scatterblade with a sneer. "You look like you tried to play with a whole pack of cyber wolves and lost."

"Feels like it, too," he groaned. "They hacked me I again. I can't get the flow to stop."

Knockout grunted with understanding, pulling a medical tap he plugged into Scatterblade, his systems complained at the extra work after the shock he had received, but he pressed on anyway. Hound stood over the two mechs making sure they weren't interrupted.

Outside, Jazz met Cretton and his bodyguard just inside the compound gate.

"Let her go," he growled, his voice cold and dangerous.

"You come any closer, she dies," Cretton said like he was talking down to a child. "We're leaving. You get her back when we're gone."

"Like Ah'd believe that. Besides," a decidedly evil grin slid across his face, "Ya assume Ah'd have ta get closer ta deactivate ya."

Cretton grinned right back. "Kill her." The guard released her mouth and wrapped his large hand around her throat.

Before the man could move any farther, a shot cracked from a distance, piercing the man's head neatly, missing Charlie by just enough. The next instant Jazz grabbed Cretton and began crushing the man.

"This is better than ya deserve," he snarled angrily, showing more of his inner darkness than he had shown in vorns.

Charlie's hands flew to her ears after she hit the ground. Her heart beat wildly as she stared at the dead man. She rested her head on the ground and blacked out.

Cretton screamed, not having the strength or nerve to fight back as his organs ruptured.

Once the man in his hand no longer moved, his heart was still, and his breathing ceased, Jazz dropped the broken body and picked up Charlie so gently it would have been hard to believe he had just killed someone with those same hands. ::Raj, we're good. Let's get back ta th' others an' get outta here.::

::Understood,:: Mirage responded, rising from the place he had taken up his sniper rifle a safe distance away and headed back toward the compound.

As the dizziness faded from the mech's processor, Scatterblade yanked his hands-free and pulled the collar from around his neck. He sat up and vented heavily, drawing in the cold air for his steaming systems.

"Errors you can't live with for the time being?" Knockout asked tiredly, though his sarcasm remained intact.

Hound offered a hand to the frontliner to help him to his feet. "Can you walk?"

"I think I'm okay." Scatterblade grabbed the hand and pulled. He stood and his leg crumpled beneath him. He caught Hound's hand again for support. "I think I misjudged that."

"Looks like," Hound agreed, easily supporting the mech.

"That's going to take time to fix," Knockout warned, looking over the damage carefully. "I can fix it enough to bear some weight, but I don't think you'll be on your own without support for a while." Knockout glanced back as Jazz and Mirage entered the room. "Unless you want to make this your new playhouse, I'll need to take as many supplies as I can get."

"Don't think we got too much ta worry about fer th' time being. Get what ya need doc-bot." The mech's lighthearted tone was back in place, completely belying the heinous deeds he had just committed.

As the others entered, Scatterblade saw Charlie cradled in Jazz's arm. "What happened?"

"Eh," Jazz hesitated, "she passed out?" He shrugged a little and brought Charlie to him so he could look her over himself. "Ah don't know what's new an' what's not, but she looks uh bit banged up."

Scatterblade noted the blue marks on her neck and scowled. "Thank you, Jazz. Mirage," he took the woman from the silver mech and held her close. "Where are Illusory and Arcee?" He asked.

To this Jazz looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Safe. Ah thought Arcee should watch over Lu 'til we got back. She...kinda glitched out for uh bit there." He wasn't going to mention that he had crashed her processors to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else, or from running off to find Scatterblade on her own. If they had had a medic at the time...but that was then.

Scatterblade's shoulders fell, and he reached for her across their bond. He looked up to Jazz, abruptly. "She's in stasis?" Nothing about the question was accusatory. Just fear and worry.

"Yeah," Jazz acknowledged with a glance to Knockout, wondering if the Decepticon medic would be a boon to their little band of survivors or not.

"Dare I ask how you managed that?" The medic asked with thick disapproval in his voice, knowing very well how Jazz's handiwork looked from experience trying to untangle it.

"Ah did what Ah had ta do," he said defensively.

Scatterblade vented relief. "She's safe. That's what matters." He glanced to Knockout and gave him a look. "Try to behave."

"What fun would that be?" The red mech said as he sauntered off to find what he thought would be most useful to him once they left this place. Even though Jazz had stated that they had time, he was sure it wasn't much, and he didn't want to regret leaving anything useful behind.

Scatterblade shook his head. He was careful to keep Charlie from his leaks. "Glad to see our comms are still up," he said to Hound.

"Yeah, guess things weren't going so great around here. I was investigating some wildlife in the area when Jazz found me." Hound shrugged as if all of this was new to him.

"Good thing Ah did too, or you'd have been next on their hit list. Course, that's how Ah found ya, thanks ta Lu and Blade."

"How long ago did you make planetfall?" Scatterblade asked.

"Hmm," the mech scratched his head, some caked on dirt falling away as he did. "Not sure, several of this planet's rotations around its central star, give or take a few orns?"

Scatterblade nodded. "Just a little shorter than me. Have you heard from anyone?"

"No," Hound shrugged. "Never was one for much communications."

"Hermit comes to mind," Mirage pointed out helpfully. "More interested in the organic going-ons than anything else."

"I can't help that it's fascinating," though he didn't sound apologetic for his obsessions.

"Glad to see you, all the same." Scatterblade ran his vents again, keeping Charlie warm and his systems cooled.

Knockout finally returned, everything he could fathom needing - little that there was here - loaded into his subspace and he was ready to go. He went straight to Scatterblade, ignoring the sour looks from Jazz and Mirage as he passed them. "Here," he offered the frontliner's swords, "found them in storage. Thought you might like them back."

Scatterblade smiled, it hadn't even occurred to him to look for them. With a soft, "Thanks," he sheathed them and shifted Charlie better against him.

"Ready ta go?" Jazz asked; despite his mistrust of the Decepticon medic, he was hardly going to even ponder leaving him behind. Not when their kind was so few and so scattered, and he had already shown intent to help, not harm them.

"Yeah." Scatterblade stood, carefully, both to test his legs and not to jostle Charlie.

Hound offered the mech his support which was willingly accepted. The small group headed through the damaged compound, Jazz leading and Mirage bringing up the rear with Knockout walking behind Hound and Scatterblade.

With a lot of finagling, back ways and long ways around, they finally made their way back to the abandoned parking garage just as the sun was rising. At some point Charlie had come around, only asking enough to know that they were out of harm's way for the time being and that they were headed back to the others.

Arcee raced out to meet them as soon as she picked them up on sensors.

Charlie beamed, the smile so oddly out of place on her bruised face. Scatterblade strained to see past Hound looking for his white armored love. "Everything went well then?" Arcee asked, happy to seeing every accounted for - until she spotted Knockout. Instantly she dropped into a fighting stance and prepared to attack.

Charlie held up her hands as if she could stop the femme. "Arcee, no! Doc-bot's with us now."

"Like Pit he is!" She growled.

"Fine," Knockout agreed quickly enough, turning away, "deal with your own repairs then."

Jazz rumbled something along the lines of younglings and their attitudes. "Arcee, stand down. Knockout was uh prisoner in there just as much as Blade an' he's with us now. We hardly have th' numbers ta be picky about who's stays an' who goes."

"He seems nice at least," Hound added helpfully.

A soft chirp from the entrance near the parking garage had alerted the adults before Silverdust came bolting out, heading straight for Scatterblade.

The mech's optics lit up and he dropped to his knees. He helped Charlie to the ground and scooped up the little femme. He nuzzled her tightly, apologizing for being gone so long, telling her how much he missed her and loved her. His spark leaped and he tossed his little femme playfully in the air.

Knockout all but fell on his face as he saw the little femme. "A sparkling?!" He had stammered several more unintelligible sounds before he managed another coherent sentence. "But that means you're bonded!"

"Dare try to hurt that sparkling and you'll regret it for the last kliks of your function," Arcee warned, her body language still screaming violence, even though she was no longer threatening to actually strike out at the mech.

Hound seemed to be completely ignorant of the conversation around them as he knelt beside Scatterblade to examine the little femme with great joy and soft clicks that Silverdust responded readily to, though she refused to release her mech creator now that he was back.

Scatterblade held the little femme close. "Yeah. We are. This is Silverdust." He introduced.

Knockout's processor whirled between joy and fear for the sparkling so young in such a dangerous world, and an angry fit of rage that not only would yet another mech have been lost due to human hands - but a femme and an innocent sparkling also.

"Silverdust?" He said finally as he came closer to look and scan the little femme. "She seems very healthy, aside from being distressed."

"That's the best news I've heard all day," Scatterblade vented. "Hey, sweetie. Yeah, I'm home. Where's Momma?"

Silverdust looked back to the parking garage, a serious look crossing the femme's small features as she clicked and chirred unhappily.

"Inside," Jazz vented as he lead the way. "Knockout, if ya don't mind, you'll probably have ta bring her around..."

"Oh, joy! More of your handiwork," Knockout grumbled, but he was quick on Jazz's heals anyway.

Scatterblade gathered both Silverdust and Charlie and limped after the mechs. Mirage nodded to Arcee, taking off for patrol. Arcee went to Hound - who was following Scatterblade inside - happy to see one of her old friends again and the two started talking idly about this and that without really breaching any of the more serious subjects.

Inside the parking garage, Illusory's midnight blue frame lay still on one of the level ramps, evidence of her previous outburst still evident around her, and marking her frame.

"Ah told ya she glitched," Jazz explained as Knockout grunted and knelt beside the femme.

"I'm not surprised, knowing that her bond mate was being tortured," he agreed before making the initial connection to the femme.

Scatterblade knelt beside them, giving the mechs plenty of room. He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently.

At first, Knockout had no issues sorting through Jazz's signature damage in the femme's crashed processor, but a few kliks after things started coming online, his frame seized, and his systems screamed in pitch to Illusory's.

"Slag it all!" Jazz cursed as he ripped the medic's connection from the femme. "Rapid download," he grumbled, helping Knockout balance himself as his systems tried to stabilize. "Ah forgot - sorry."

"Sorry?" Knockout all but yelled as he finally regained himself. "What else do you crazy Autobots have hidden around here?!"

Jazz vented again. "She's got an illegal upgrade; not even Ratchet could remove it." He shrugged. "Ah've been able ta help her control it from time ta time, Ah forget not everyone has muh processor blocks ta prevent it from latchin' on ta ya."

Scatterblade tightened his grip. He reached through their bond. 'Lu. Wake up, sweetie. Lu, I'm home.'

There was a gentle awareness on the other end of their bond, not quite able to speak back but much like in the very beginning of their bond before they knew how to talk to one another.

Jazz and Knockout continued to bicker back and forth about how best to treat the femme while Arcee and Hound tried to stay out of the way.

Scatterblade smiled, sending warmth and joy over the connection. 'We're here. Try to wake up. You crashed your processor, or Jazz had to. I tried to keep the pain to myself. I'm so sorry.' He continued radiating little thoughts of love, pulling memories from his banks to coax her back to him.

Little by little she became more aware, until finally with a rev of her engine she shot up, locking onto her mate beside her and leaping onto him, babbling nonsense and radiating her love and fear that had compounded within her over the orns.

The mech held her tightly, not shushing her or telling her she'd be alright. He just reveled in the fact that he was here, arms securely around her.

"I thought you were gone," she finally said clearly, "I thought I'd never see you again." Her whole frame trembled as she held onto Scatterblade so tightly her tension cables ached.

"I'm so sorry. I'm not going anywhere." He held her, his spark lighting brightly.

It was several breems before she calmed long enough to register the state of her mate, let alone the others around them. Distress flared brightly as she looked him over. "Blade..." her hands hovered over the worst of the damage still showing on his frame. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing. I'll be okay," he waved it off with one hand, the other firmly grasping hers.

"Lu," Charlie beamed, climbing the femme clumsily. Her body screamed for food and rest, but she had to see Illusory.

"Charlie!" The femme's joy was overwhelming until she saw the injuries the woman had suffered, "Oh, Charlie..."

Rex came limping up holding the bag of supplies they had managed to gather between himself and Arcee while the mechs were gone. "Charlie," he called to her, "I'm glad you're back."

The woman's eyes lit up, and she slid down Illusory. "Rex!" She stumbled to him and wrapped him in her arms. Tears sprang to her eyes.

Rex happily accepted the woman, holding her firmly in his arms. "You're safe," he said, almost as much to himself as to her. "Let me treat your injuries. We have food." He was reluctant to let her go but made do with holding onto her arms to guide her where he wanted her to sit, then pressed an apple into her hand, which she took eagerly.

Scatterblade smiled at the two. He turned back to Illusory, settled beside her, and pulled her closer. The femme tucked into him comfortably, happily, with Silverdust curling up between the two, fully at peace for the first time since this whole thing began. Their family was whole and here - including Charlie - and that did a lot for Illusory's tormented spark. She hadn't lost everything again as she feared.

Knockout made his rounds, starting with Illusory but not daring to link up to her again. He gave her a reasonably clean bill of health aside from her uneasiness around him and her high-stress levels. He affected minor repairs on Hound - who gratefully accepted - and Mirage who only allowed the attention because Knockout happened to mention how well the Spy's frame was being kept. Arcee refused any attention from the medic and Knockout found himself chasing Jazz down - which he wasn't sure if it was part of the saboteur's trickery or his determination not to be outwitted by the smaller mech. It did relieve loads of tension though so when he had finally caught the current leader of their little troupe, Jazz didn't protest any further. Perhaps that had been the point. Knockout didn't know what to think of it and did find himself wondering how Ratchet dealt with any of them on an ornly basis.

Charlie continued eating and drinking though she had to be reminded to take it slowly. Through talking with Rex, she found her captivity had been about three days – though it had felt so much longer.

Scatterblade watched over his family as they recharged, looking up at their group every once in a while.

"Ya should recharge too," Jazz advised the frontliner as he came to sit on the opposite side of him, away from Illusory and Silverdust, stretching out his frame and feeling the repairs Knockout had made. "Yer protected here; we're all watchin'."

Scatterblade smiled politely, determined to stay awake, but when he saw what the mech was talking about, including Rex's watch over Charlie, he nodded and rested his head against the wall. Maybe they weren't 'safe,' but they were well guarded here. He could trust these bots.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	11. Chapter 11

~*~ Chapter Eleven ~*~

Day 56

The next few days passed in a blur of monotony; Knockout did what he could to bring them all back up to code, though he was limited in supplies and even more with Illusory by her upgrades that tried to pull all information from him making it impossible for him to check programming or state of processor. The others all took rounds of patrol and searching farther out for a better place to hide, other 'bots, and supplies. Scatterblade did his best to keep Illusory rested, taking care of Silverdust while the femme recharged.

Charlie spent a lot of her time talking to Rex. At first, their topics were about the 'bots and how to help them, then she started sharing her nightmares with him after long nights with little sleep. Soon she was telling stories of her siblings' antics. Though all her trauma was still fresh and very real, her optimism grew stronger. Rex encouraged the brighter memories in the woman, happily engaging in the lighter talks of her family and good times. He was also there for her after nightmares, willing to comfort her and soothe the fears. It made him happy, made him feel like he had a purpose in life again. It helped that he genuinely liked the woman and her incredible spirit in the face of all the things that had happened.

Illusory was rarely settled unless she was physically touching her mate, Knockout making her entirely uncomfortable though she did try to tolerate him as much as she could. She was very aggressive about protecting her sparkling and Charlie, less so but still overly protective of her mate and Rex. Knockout was sure it was lasting effects of a processor crash on top of extended separation from her bonded mate so early in their bonding. He was unsure if she would fully recover but did think improvement would come with time.

The femme was also very distrustful of Arcee, despite saying that she knew it wasn't the femme's fault that Charlie had been taken, the blame still remained in her spark. It bothered Arcee deeply, but there was little she could do aside from continue to watch after the others and do patrols to prove she meant no harm.

Scatterblade would talk to Knockout when he came near, hoping his kindness toward the mech would be contagious for his femme and the others. He also began thinking extensively about the Autobots. The planet was significantly smaller than Cybertron, and it amazed him that they couldn't contact anyone. Jazz assured the frontliner that it was most likely that everyone was in hiding and afraid to access comms after the initial attacks and it would just take time and careful placement of broadcasts to locate others, though he pointedly did not mention that there was a possibility that there were no others. He tried to help Illusory as much as he could in dealing with whatever damage he might have caused. However, things got complicated when he tried to tap into her systems with Knockout anywhere close enough to be of use to either of them, so they accepted the fact that she was going to have to deal on her own. It was nearly a full Earth month before Mirage returned with news of a place he found rather promising for them to set up a more permanent shelter - close enough to a town that the humans wouldn't suffer for what they needed but closed off enough that most humans wouldn't dare travel out there.

Charlie was eager to shower. With her much shorter hair, she didn't worry about how ratted it would've become. Still, she knew she reeked, only having so many clothes to change into and having run out of deodorant a week ago.

Scatterblade had been reluctant to choose a new alt mode but did so, selecting a typical looking gray sedan.

The move had gone relatively well considering the seven large robots trying to move silently through dense growth that formed around an old foundry. The place had long been abandoned and didn't even exist on maps anymore, despite its short distance into the local town. It was mostly hidden by trees and thick weed growth making the place ideal for the bots to make themselves comfortable. It was also far less exposed than the parking garage and had the beginnings of basic comforts for the humans as well. It would take a little work to make it someplace more livable, but definitely better than the caves and running.

Illusory was nothing but nerves the whole time they traveled until she had secured a small building for herself and her little family. She refused to allow anyone else entrance, not even Jazz - only the humans were allowed past her overprotective guard of the small building.

"She's acting like Red Alert on a glitchy orn," Mirage commented after being chased off from the small building when he had only gone to make sure it was sturdy.

Charlie offered her apologies before luring the femme back inside.

At one point it might have been an office building. The only thing that the woman cared about was the water spigot she had found on the outside. She found an empty barrel and filled it with water. She would finally have clean clothes.

Arcee and Jazz spent the rest of the day patrolling the edges of the foundry, looking for anything that was unsafe for them, locating the weaknesses, and where they wanted to do what kind of whatever to benefit them for a longer stay.

Knockout busied himself with finding and gutting a building he would use as his workstation/medical room. It wasn't much, but he was sure they were going to need it.

The first few days were full of exploration. Charlie combed over the entire compound, climbing ladders or going through the foundry's old offices. Among her discoveries, she found books, magazines, drawers full of paperwork, pens, scissors. She even found a refrigerator long since forgotten complete with a few items marked with names that surely had molded food growing inside.

After the curiosity of the building had been filled, Charlie gathered a few books that caught her eye to return to her small space in the building Illusory had claimed. As she leafed through an old weathered copy, a photograph slipped from its pages.

She picked it up, flipping it over. A happy family of five, three children all very young, beamed up at her. She smiled back, her heart aching as she thought of home and the last time she had spoken to her mother; she had been gone for so long.

"What is bothering you?" Illusory asked softly as she came to sit beside her friend. It was one of the very few times she had wandered from Scatterblade's side, though she made sure he was somewhere she could still see him, even if the action was subconscious.

Charlie set the photo back in the book and flashed the femme a quick smile. "Nothing." The smile fell. "Just miss the kiddos..." she said quickly as if being reminded that her family thought she was abducted by aliens was just a minor stub of her toe.

Illusory pondered that thought for a while before speaking. "If you could go see them, would you want to?"

Charlie looked up at her, disbelief on her face. "Yeah, but...the minute I show up, they'll take you." Her tone was as severe as when she had asked Illusory to let her join in the fighting. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I can't," her voice softened, and she smiled warmly.

"They don't know my new alt..." the femme pressed a little, though it looked like it was difficult.

"Lu. It's okay," she rested a hand on the femme's armor. "Yeah, I miss them, but if there are other creepers like Cretton," she shuddered, "I'd rather not bring that home."

"Right," the femme vented, a mixture of relief and sadness.

Charlie patted her gently. "Don't beat yourself up. I'm okay." Charlie took a deep breath, pulling herself up straighter. "I'm okay." She smiled at her. "Are you feeling better?"

"No," the femme admitted with a bit of a bite, though it wasn't directed toward Charlie in particular. Ever since she had come back online her processor had ached, and her spark still felt on the edge of panic, but she was coming to terms with it, "but I will be," she promised.

The woman blinked at the response, surprised by the straightforwardness. "Yeah. Hopefully, we'll all be."

"Hopefully," the femme agreed, though she sounded far less confident about it. She leaned back against the wall behind her, venting heavily as she tried once again to calm her high-strung spark. It was frustrating and annoying, but she was still too distrustful of Knockout to even ask him about it. She knew he couldn't do anything for her processors - and Jazz's efforts had helped some but the ache always came back. Still, she did her best not to snap at everyone, mostly taking her anger out on Knockout, Arcee, and Mirage.

Charlie looked up her and pursed her lips to gather her courage. "You know, you really shouldn't be mad at her." She had been trying to find a quiet moment to talk to Illusory about it. The few times she had brought it up Illusory had just ignored it or gone on about every reason why Charlie _should_ be angry. "She isn't to blame. And the one who hurt me is dead anyway," she added quickly. She blinked the tears away. She hadn't told Illusory she remembered what happened to the man.

Illusory's armor ruffled, and her entire frame went stiff for a moment. It looked almost as if she might bolt - or argue violently - it was hard to tell with the femme anymore; however after a few kliks her armor settled and she looked down at Charlie, anger, and regret mixed in her expression. "I know I should not," she whispered, "but I cannot _not_ be angry with her. I have tried, it just will not go away."

The woman sighed and wiped a few stray tears from her face. "Maybe with time. She's alone out here. You know what that feels like."

"She has the others," Illusory pointed out. "We are all in this together...even...even Knockout," she said with some trouble, "but that does not mean that I trust them." She looked away from her human friend, subconsciously searching for her mate and sparkling. "I do not trust them," she said with a touch of the strange state of processor showing in her tone. "None of them," she almost growled, her armor clamped down tight against her frame.

"Knockout saved my life," Charlie pointed right back. "And I'm part of 'them,' you know."

"No," Illusory snapped, "not you. I trust you," she offlined her optics and shook her head slowly. "No," she repeated. She reached out for Scatterblade across their bond, feeling lost and desperate again and hating herself for being so weak when others had suffered so much more than herself. Still, she needed to feel him, to feel safe and secure. Scatterblade came in sight having left the small house when Illusory first called him, with Silverdust in tow. He responded warmly over their bond, and he sat beside his mate.

"Hi, Charlie."

"Hey, Blade," Charlie's demeanor changed as she excitedly welcomed Silverdust. "Hi, Sweetie! Wanna play tag?"

Silverdust eagerly trotted off to Charlie, more than happy to play with the woman.

Illusory immediately leaned into her mate, mumbling too quietly for anyone to hear, though they could probably guess she was reciting the same things she usually did.

Charlie ran herself silly with Silverdust. By the time they collapsed on the grass, she was gasping for air from giggling so hard. She had unquestionably needed that. Holding up optimism for their group had been hard enough when they had only four 'bots with them. It was a struggle to reach Illusory and particularly Knockout with her charms. Not to mention that it had been considerably weakened with her stay in Cretton's office.

Silverdust enjoyed the game and more than happily flopped beside her playmate in the grass, only moments later discovering an insect that grabbed her full attention as it crawled across the plants. She reached out to touch it but found her hand stopped by a much larger one.

"Just watch," Hound told her softly with so much kindness in his tone that the little femme didn't feel slighted by his impediment of her curiosity. Once the small bug reached the tip of the leaf, it stopped, searching for more but finding empty air, so it settled itself there and began to eat the leaf in neat little rows.

Charlie rolled over and watched. "Aw. It's a caterpillar. When this little guy gets big and fat, he'll wrap himself up to change into a butterfly," she explained to the little femme.

Silverdust looked at Charlie with wide optics, then up at Hound, who only nodded in agreement, then she looked back at the little insect and squealed happily.

"Find anything interesting today?" Charlie asked Hound.

"Lots," the large green mech said cheerfully. "There is a bird's nest just over there," he pointed behind the foundry grounds, "three little birds hatched just today." He beamed at the memory. "And there are several new trees I haven't seen before - some look to be fruit bearing, I supposed you and Rex might like that."

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah. That'd be great."

"I'll show you," he offered, picking up a rather happy Silverdust. "They're not far."

Charlie stood, throwing a look back to Illusory.

Scatterblade beat her to it. He nodded, soothing his femme before she could protest.

Illusory watched the three go with concern, but she knew Charlie would watch after Silverdust, and Hound had been nothing but gentle and kind to all of them. Still, a little part of her screamed displeasure as they walked away.

Hound made sure to go slowly, talking to Silverdust and Charlie as they went, telling them about all the different plants and animals he had seen in the area. Eventually they arrived at a small grouping of blackberry trees and not far beyond were a few apple trees that looked accidental.

Charlie recognized the wild apple tree immediately. "Crabapples!" The small sour fruits were her favorite part of camping near her grandpa's cabin. "Great find, Hound."

"Thank you!" The mech said happily, letting Silverdust down to roam around the area, keeping one optic on her. "I wasn't entirely sure if you would like them, but I hoped so."

Charlie beamed at him before grabbing a branch to climb into the tree.

Hound settled himself on the ground nearby, more comfortable out here in the dirt and wilderness than he ever was in 'civilized' places. Mirage liked to point out that about him as often as possible, but Hound always took it as a compliment instead of the intended slight against his general upkeep. He found this peaceful and relaxed as opposed to all the insanity that happened in what was supposed to be organized worlds.

"Need any help?" He offered, easily reaching some of the fruits and plucking them off the tree.

"Yeah, you can start a pile. Not all of them. Want to save some," Charlie continued her climb then perched on a branch, holding her shirt up like a bag she pulled the small fruits away from their stems.

Hound continued to pick the fruits, Silverdust getting involved for a while before becoming distracted by something else that was interesting. It was a good outing for all of them, with no bickering, no worrying, and just being happy with friends.

When the group heading back, Charlie loaded the apples in her shirt, bundled tightly and exposing her belly. She almost dropped her cargo when they came within view of the others. Her pelvis had been severely bruised with her encounter in Cretton's office over a month ago, the tender spots and colors had faded since but her face flushed at the memory and her instinct to hide the damage from her friends was still there.

For some reason, the timing felt wrong. Had it been more than a month? Her shirt fell open as her grip slacked and the apples bounced and rolled on the grass. Her mind started racing, and she gasped for air. "Knockout!" She called out, running for the foundry.

Hound looked confused by the woman's sudden change in demeanor but continued to follow her. "Charlie? What's wrong?" In his arms, Silverdust clicked worriedly.

Knockout heard his designation called and emerged from the relative safety of his self-made infirmary. "Yes?" He asked cautiously, one optic already locked on the midnight blue femme headed for Hound and her sparkling, Scatterblade right on her heels. The rest of his attention went to the woman running in his direction.

The woman skid to a halt. "Scan me. Please." The desperation in her voice only quickened her panic. The please thrown in out of her habit for politeness, making the sound strangled.

Rex appeared from the small home Illusory, Scatterblade, Silverdust, Charlie and he had made, the humans having their own section far enough to give them privacy while still soothing Illusory's need to protect them. "What..." his question caught in his throat as Charlie's words hit him and he rushed to stand near her, only staying far enough to not interfere with Knockout's scans.

Knockout seemed confused but did as he was asked.

Illusory fought back her urge to tackle the medic away from Charlie, and the effort showed in her trembling frame.

Hound offered the protective femme her sparkling, hoping to help distract her, but the action caused Illusory to turn her unfounded and confused anger on the peaceful mech. Hound took her initial aggression easily, only holding his hands to the side to show her he wasn't going to do anything.

"Just-" Charlie took a deep breath to calm her nerves at suddenly having an audience, "check for two heart beats." Tears started sliding down her cheeks, and she grabbed for Rex's hand.

Knockout shrugged. "Two," he confirmed. "Is that normal for humans?" He asked.

Rex closed the remaining distance and pulled Charlie in tight, hugging her as hard as he dared. "No," he answered before anyone else could.

"Then why..." it seemed as though it finally occurred to him what could be happening, then his expression turned guarded. "Oh. Well, I suppose you lot have to multiply some how."

The answer was enough to stop Illusory's attack on Hound, and she turned back to the humans, dread filling her.

Charlie had stood for a few moments longer before her knees gave out from beneath her. She gripped Rex unable to calm her shaking body. She didn't cry; the shock held a firm grip on her. The one thing she had looked forward to her entire life was suddenly tainted and thrust upon her without any warning. That revelation alone was hard to swallow, let alone everything else; she would now be a single mother on the run, and this child would never have a real childhood. Her mind ran in circles as she tried to think of solutions, always coming back to: 'I'm pregnant.'

Illusory took the humans into her hands and holding them close to her chest retreated to their temporary home without a word to anyone. She gave a warning growl as Hound took a step to follow. Silverdust trotted after her femme creator, quietly curious.

Rex was startled by being suddenly picked up but didn't release Charlie.

Once inside the building, Illusory set the humans down, turning her attention to Silverdust.

Rex gently led Charlie to their area. "I don't know what you could be thinking right now," he said once they were alone, "but whatever you want to do, I will help you through it."

Charlie stared at him, her arms still gripping his. "I don't... I don't want it, but it's not their fault...I can't blame the baby..." she mumbled confusedly. "I want children, but not like this..."

"There are other options," he told her, "but you don't have to decide right now."

She nodded numbly and pulled herself back into his arms. "I still can't get him out of my head," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured, holding her close to him. "I wish I could make all of that go away."

Charlie smiled, but a frown touched her lips. "Why?" She sat up to look at him.

Rex was shocked by the question. "Nobody deserves that..." he hesitated for another moment, "and I wish, had things been different, maybe this child could have been mine..."

Charlie's jaw dropped, and she blinked several times. "Really?" A smile started to form, and she took deep breaths.

"Really," he promised.

Charlie reached up to his hair, brushing it away from his eyes then cupping his cheek in her hand. "You've been so kind to me. I've never had anyone I could just talk to. Well, besides Blade and Lu..." she chuckled, tears forming in her eyes. "And I trust you. It hasn't been very long, but I trust you."

Rex smiled, the joy glowing in his eyes as he held her, tipping his head, so their foreheads touched. "I'm glad you trust me, that means more to me than you may ever know. I want to take care of you," he looked a little nervous.

She closed her eyes; tears slipped down her face. "I want you to," she beamed, and laughed, "I do."

He breathed deeply, wiping her tears away with one hand and tipping her head up, so their lips met. Charlie tangled her fingers in his hair as they kissed. She couldn't say it was her first, but she would say over and over again for years that this was the best.

Rex held the kiss for as long as he could, letting it warm him through to his very soul before he pulled back, his face flush and a smile firmly in place. "We'll go one day at a time. Whatever happens, I will be by your side."

Charlie smiled widely momentarily stunned by the fluttering in her chest. "Uh huh." Some clarity blinked back to her eyes, and she giggled. "I'll be by yours."

He laughed, happy to hear her happy again and more than willing to keep her that way.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	12. Chapter 12

~*~ Chapter Twelve ~*~

Day 96

Three months

Just as he promised, he was there. They talked and planned together, helping the bots when they could. The best thing they did on a regular basis was to go into town and pick up rumors on 'Transformer' activity. The first time Charlie heard the nickname, she laughed so loud she had to bury her face in Rex's chest to not draw attention.

It got tougher to go to town unnoticed as Charlie's belly grew bigger. It got to the point where she had to spend the last of her money on larger shirts and sweatpants. Over the three months, life was a rather level standard of modifying the foundry to be both comfortable and unsuspecting. They all realized just how much they were affecting it when a young man showed up out of the blue to 'see what was up.'

Kevin turned out to be one of the strong supporters for the Alien Robots, having been obsessed with every little thing about them and absolutely horrified when the government turned against them. The refugees had tried to convince him to go away, return to life as usual and not come back to the foundry, but he simply would have none of it. He came as often as he could without drawing attention to himself in his back and forth between town and the foundry. He had turned out to be a benefit to the humans - especially as Charlie became more and more heavy with child - he would bring groceries and needed things to them along with news from town. The man's only problem came in the form of Illusory, who only grew more and more spooky as the time passed; she responded poorly to his unannounced appearances despite the fact she seemed to like the young man.

After Kevin's appearance, they had focused more on the fact that they needed to keep the foundry's appearance unaltered from the outside, they were surprised once more when Jazz picked up a distress signal and took off with little notice for anyone to follow. He returned with a rather strung out Prowl - well, as strung out as the mech ever appeared from the outside, but any who knew him could clearly spot the stress - and a fast moving mech that had a very hard time staying in any one spot for more than three seconds; Blurr.

It wasn't much longer after that that Rex returned from town with Kevin and two more men in tow that looked as though they had seen the finer side of rock bottom.

Billy and Vance turned out to be two NEST soldiers in hiding from their own government who accused them of crimes they didn't even know they had committed. Rex had recognized them and spent quite some time tracking them down to convince them to come with him out to the foundry, but once they saw the few 'bots milling around, the men looked instantly relieved.

The last arrival appeared after a particularly stormy night; Hound had fished her out of the forest, drenched to the bone and looking miserable. Myra had also been a NEST soldier but had left the team shortly after the Egypt event had happened only to find herself on a wanted list after the attack on Chicago.

"It seems it doesn't matter if you're still in contact with these guys or not," she said bitterly when she had been convinced to speak, "the government has a price on all of our heads. Our only saving grace is that there are too many of us for them to single us out on public forums yet other than a general list. Chances are the public won't recognize any one of us unless we make some kind of scene."

The woman had been fascinated with the aliens, but couldn't stand the way the governments were treating them. She tried to step out of the government control and remain in contact with the Aliens but found it impossible to do. After Myra's arrival, Prowl took over setting up security around the foundry - something that would alert them long before anyone 'stumbled' onto their new home.

Blurr more often than not did patrols around the area - going further than the others and staying gone longer to help soothe his need to move regularly. It may have been because of a mix of Prowl and Mirage chasing the mech off, unable to handle his constant movement, but that was only a side effect.

Knockout liked to race with the speedster - though he never won - it was an excellent release from the constant monotony.

Illusory was becoming a problem as time ticked on. Despite Knockout's assurances that she would eventually improve, she became more edgy and aggressive. She complained of her processor aching more and more when asked what was wrong. Even Scatterblade's support and steady spark couldn't ease the pain for long. She reached a point where she wouldn't allow Charlie to leave the foundry at all, stating that she wasn't able to protect herself if anything happened, and Silverdust was hardly allowed to leave their small home. The young femme tolerated her femme creator's insanity well enough, but sometimes would grow tired of the over-protectiveness and sneak away - usually finding Hound and investigating with him - only to suffer harsher restrictions when she was found by her panicked creator once more.

The other 'bots tried hard to help ease the femme's growing paranoia and aggressive territorial-ism, but little seemed to convince her. Arcee had spent an inordinate amount of time trying to show the glitching femme that she was not a danger to her or her family and that she would do everything she could to protect them. While Illusory would _say_ she understood, and would even state that she _knew_ she was overreacting, the femme's distrust continued.

Knockout was utterly confounded on what to do for the femme when she would hardly let him anywhere near her now, and he couldn't tap into her systems safely. Not even Jazz's attempts to ease her processor worked anymore. Through it all Illusory insisted that Charlie was the one to focus on, that the woman needed special care and attention.

Charlie spent as much time as possible trying to soothe Illusory, talking with her or just keeping her processor occupied.

With Hound's help, they were able to keep using the various trees without exploiting them. Kevin brought seeds at Charlie's request and helped her plant them. She chose a bright spot inside the foundry where the roof had long since collapsed. Rainwater was easily funneled into the area creating a nice irrigation system.

Charlie was eager to push Rex to be with the NEST group whenever they went out to patrol or went into town. She knew how important having familiarity was, her own desire for being home growing with the baby inside. Rex appreciated being able to fall back into a routine, but he spent as much time as he could with Charlie.

After a quick count of the time already passed, Charlie's curiosity outgrew her weariness of Illusory's moods swings and distrust of Knockout. She wanted to know what the baby was so she could stop calling it 'them.' Early in the morning while Illusory was wrapped around Silverdust deep in recharge, she slipped from the house and went off toward Knockout's infirmary. It wasn't her first time doing so. She liked Knockout very much, and she knew he craved companionship as much as he outwardly denied it.

She went inside and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. It seemed any distance was too far, now.

"Hey, Knockout," she greeted.

Knockout turned at the woman's greeting, looking around for her ever present and unpleasant shadow. "Charlie, I see you've slipped your watchdog again. What can I do for you?"

Charlie grinned and rolled her eyes. "I was wondering if you could tell me what the gender is?" She asked nervously placing a hand on her stomach.

"I can probably figure it out." He scanned the woman, then spent a few minutes examining the results. "From what I gather, it appears to be male," the mech offered with a shrug, "but even your medical experts say there is a chance that could be wrong. Not that they have my amazing technology to back up their guesswork."

Charlie gave a small squeal, but cleared her throat. She wrapped her arms around Knockout's leg in a quick hug. "Thank you!"

The mech hummed in approval of her gratitude. "You're welcome. "

She headed to the door, eager to share the news. "Hey," she said before parting, "don't be a stranger."

He rolled his optics. "As if your keeper would let me near you knowingly."

"Well, then I'll do it. Gonna need a doctor close by as I get bigger," she winked

Knockout huffed, though a small smirk found it's way onto his face.

Charlie left the infirmary beaming. She couldn't wait to tell Rex. As she searched for him, her thoughts turned down a negative fork. She was excited, but she should be? This baby was only here because she had been violated; emotionally and physically tortured. As the baby grew older, would she see that man's face? Would she one day look at her boy and see the monster who caused her pain? A shiver ran through her spine, but she shoved it down. This was her future, and she could make it bright. Still, the conflict was there. Was this little life a blessing or a curse?

Rex was talking with Vance about the possibility of obtaining weapons and initiating training for the few of them on base to keep them sharp when Charlie found him.

"Hey, there," he greeted Charlie warmly, pulling her to his side and giving her a gentle kiss. "You look extra happy today."

Charlie laughed, "I am. I have some...news." Suddenly she felt nervous. Would Rex think the same things she had just been thinking? Would he hate the baby for looking like the man that had forced the child upon her.

Rex's focus was suddenly solidly on Charlie, worry flashing through him as he thought of so many things she might be about to tell him. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Just..." she glanced to Vance. "Can we have a minute?"

The other man nodded, turning away. "I'll tell Billy and Myra what we've talked about."

When the man was gone, Charlie took a deep breath. "I just left the infirmary. I know what the baby is," she whispered, her smile growing.

Rex's worry vanished, replaced by a broad smile. "And what will we have?"

All the fear and confusion she had felt just melted away with his words. "We," she chuckled, her heart fluttered, "we're having a boy."

Joy flushed through the man at the answer. "A boy?" His smile was so large it looked as though his face might break. "That's great! What will we call him?"

Charlie's face turned red, and she laughed at his eagerness. "I really like Aiden."

"Aiden? I like it." His hand shifted to rest on her swollen belly. "Little Aiden."

She smiled brightly interlacing her fingers with his. "I'm so glad I'm not doing this alone." Tears started to fill her eyes.

"Never alone," Rex promised, kissing her again and wiping away her tears.

Charlie melted to his touch and clung to him. "So, how do we want to announce it?" she asked, bouncing on her heals.

"Mealtime? When everyone is together? I think Kevin was going to come by this morning."

She nodded. "Sounds like a plan. This will definitely help with morale."

"Yeah," he agreed happily.

"I want to tell Lu and Blade first," Charlie said, quickly, "She'd be so mad if I didn't."

"Right," his smile dimmed some, though with worry, not disappointment, "don't want to make her any worse than she is."

Charlie grabbed his hand and pulled him along to their little home. She saw Scatterblade playing with Silverdust on the floor. He was currently on his chassis, face down as the little femme climbed all over him. He looked up at the humans. "Hey, guys. What's up?" His voice was strained, trying not to laugh.

"Where's Lu? I have some good news," Charlie grinned, her confidence doubled with Rex by her side.

The femme appeared at the mention of her name, distress fading as she saw Charlie safe with Rex. "I was worried, " she murmured as she came to sit by Scatterblade.

Charlie grinned, "I had an appointment to keep. I'm having a boy."

Scatterblade sat up, holding Silverdust still in his lap. "Congratulations. Glad to see you're excited."

"A boy?" Illusory beamed for a moment in pure joy for her friends. "And what will you call him?" She gently brushed a finger over the bump that represented life within Charlie, a klik of anger at how it had come to be there being carefully kept from her movements but it still flared violently within her spark.

"Aiden."

"That is a nice designation," the femme purred pleasantly.

Charlie beamed and hugged Rex tightly. "We're going to tell the others today."

Illusory hummed in acceptance. Silverdust, having enough of being still, went to Charlie and hugged her before attempting to use the distraction to leave the home, only to have Illusory grab her back again. The sparkling clicked with frustration but sat compliantly beside her femme creator.

Charlie giggled at the little femme's antics. Her mind raced, jumping forward years with images of a boy to preoccupy.

"We'll see you both then; when everyone gets together to eat."

Scatterblade smiled. "Stay safe." The mech still felt like an older brother who didn't like the idea of Charlie having a boyfriend, but she hadn't been happier and he knew she was healing with Rex.

Illusory tensed as the pair left, but forced herself not to react outwardly. She knew the way she was acting wasn't right, she knew it wasn't like her, but it was difficult to remember that at the moment. Absently one hand rubbed the back of her head where she could feel the ache building again. "A boy," she said, trying to keep her processors on good thoughts. "She seems happy."

"It's good to see her happy, again. She can put it behind her, now." Scatterblade nodded a smile tugging at his face.

Charlie pulled Rex along toward the trees surrounding the foundry. "I always wanted to learn knitting. Now, I have an excuse. Maybe Kevin can get some yarn."

"I'm sure that's well within his range of things to get," the man said happily, willingly following the woman's lead.

"I can make some little socks, a hat maybe, a little sweater-" Charlie giggled and took a breath to stop. "I can teach him all the songs I learned as a kid." She thought about her own siblings and sighed. "What's your family like?"

"My family?" He thought about it for a moment before continuing. "Well, they're good people. Mom and Dad worked hard to raise me and my two older brothers right. I thought they did a good job."

"Wow, just boys? I'm the oldest of six. Two boys and four girls. Things always got crazy at home."

"Yeah, mom always said she wanted a girl, but she made due with us." He laughed with the good humor of the running joke in his family. "She said some day we would have to give her granddaughters."

Charlie smiled brightly, her face turning a little red. "I'd love to help you out with that."

Rex grinned uncontrollably. "That would make me very happy," he said with deep feeling. "Very happy."

She put her arms around his neck and pulled herself up on her tiptoes, burying her face in his neck. "We can have a future." She pulled away. "They can, too. Even through all this slag," she scoffed, "they can be safe again." Her confidence slipped, "Right?"

"I..." his first instinct was to say 'of course,' that their friends would find safety and happiness and be free again, but when he thought of it, he couldn't locate the truth to put behind the words. "I hope so," he said finally. "We'll do everything we can to help them."

She nodded resolutely. "I'm not going to lose my family, again."

"Right," he agreed. "They're our family, and we're theirs."

Charlie nodded, pulling him back into a hug. They stayed that way for some time, just holding each other.

"We should get back. Probably see if Kevin is coming before Illusory does."

Charlie pouted and sighed. "Okay. We'll help set up lunch."

"Sounds good." He led the woman back to the foundry, then all the way to the entrance that Kevin used; as expected the man was just getting ready to come through and jumped back when the door opened before he touched it. "Kevin," Rex greeted with a smile. "Good to see you, thought you might be by today."

"Well, it's been three days, I did promise," the younger man said with a huge grin that said he wouldn't have waited a minute longer.

Charlie pulled him into a hug. "Glad to see you."

"You too, Mama!" He chuckled, using a nickname he had bestowed upon the woman as soon as he found out she was pregnant. "How ya feeling?"

She chuckled, "I'm feeling fine."

"Great!" Kevin backed away far enough to grab the large bag he had dragged along with him this trip. "Plenty of good stuff in here for you guys; and extra good stuff for you." He dug around in the bag before producing a smaller bag full of vitamins, candy, and various other needs the woman would have. "It'll do for now anyway," he said with an embarrassed shrug.

"That's very thoughtful of you," Rex assured the younger man as he offered to help carry the heavy bag. "All of it, we really can't thank you enough."

Charlie looked through the candy and squealed. "Tootsie Rolls!" She hugged Kevin again. "You're a life saver," she laughed.

"I do like to think so," he smiled easily. "I'm guessing it's about lunch time? I tried to time my arrival to be early enough. Brought some stuff thought you guys would like fresh." As they headed toward the central area of the foundry, Kevin's steps faltered a little. "So...how's Lu today?" He looked around for the femme, knowing how much his sudden arrivals disturbed her.

"She's...still Lu," Charlie shrugged, an apologetic smile on her face. "Things are still touchy; her processor still hurts a lot. She thinks she can hide it, but..." she shrugged again.

"Isn't there someone who can fix her?" He asked the question long weighing on his mind. "I mean, surely there's something that can be done about it."

"Knockout does what he can," Rex sighed, "but it's hard with whatever's wrong with her marking him as still an enemy. And he can't get right to the source of the problem anyway do to her unique upgrades - at least, that's what I've gathered from it all. I can't say that alien mechanics is my strong point."

"She also doesn't trust too many people," Charlie said, "but we try little by little. Anywho, let's get lunch together."

"Sounds good to me!" Kevin cheered, happily leading the way to the central area where everyone gathered to eat - or, in the bot's case, consume what they needed to remain fully fueled. It wasn't quite energon, but it was far better than nothing and getting better with each new attempt.

They all knew the second Illusory spotted Kevin by the loud engine roar and a screech by Silverdust as she was thrust back away from the area into a place Illusory deemed safe.

"Hey, 'Lu," Kevin greeted, hoping to ease the femme's initial distrust.

Charlie cringed but smiled. She greeted the rest of the group as they gathered in, being sure to talk with Arcee for a little bit.

It was strange to see the dynamic as everyone gathered. The humans in the center, the bots sitting around the edge with Scatterblade and Jazz flanking Illusory; Knockout sitting on the other side of Scatterblade with Hound beside him, and then Arcee beside him. Prowl sat on the other side of Jazz with Blurr next to him then Mirage next to him. Despite the level of trust that had been forced upon those present, they still separated themselves from those they found least trusting of them and closer to the ones they trusted the most.

Charlie hoped to break this segregation, but she knew these bots were so set in their ways it would take a miracle. She helped the other NEST members, and Kevin set up for lunch.

Everyone seemed in good spirits for the most part. Silverdust happily followed the humans around until they finally sat down and everyone was ready, then she went back to sit in Illusory's lap.

Charlie couldn't keep the grin off her face and she squeezed Rex's hand. She cupped her hands to her mouth. "Hi, everyone, I have a quick announcement." The room went quiet as everyone gave her their attention. "We've found out that in a few months, I'm having a boy," she beamed.

"That's great!" Kevin cheered happily - he had not been informed of how this child had come into existence and assumed that it was Rex's. Rex had never bothered to correct him or the other NEST members. As far as anyone who wasn't directly related to the incident was concerned - and as far as he cared for them to think - this was his child and he acted as though it were.

Of the 'bots that knew the truth, they glanced warily at Charlie, judging whether her enthusiasm was forced or if it was genuine, and then glanced at one another to gather what the others thought, but outwardly cheered for the news.

Tears slipped down the woman's cheeks at the support. With each passing moment, her doubts grew more and more insignificant. "Thank you all so much. Now, let's eat."

"Yeah!" Vance agreed loudly, always eager to eat. The man was thin as a rail but could put away food to shame competitive eaters. He was the main reason they always had so much from the surrounding forest; he was determined to know everything that was edible and consume it. It did mean they had a large variety of local goods, easing the strain of transporting goods on Kevin.

The bots passed their fuel around, everyone getting their fill, Illusory helping Silverdust with her's so the little femme did not spill it. It didn't taste fantastic, but it was fuel, and none of them complained much. Mirage cringed but said nothing. He had learned what 'severely under-fueled' was and would never complain about what he got when there was nothing else to have.

Charlie grabbed a little of everything, and between bites, she would slip a chewy chocolate in her mouth. Lunch went off with a light air and Charlie was so giddy she got Vance and Kevin to sing "Eye of Tiger" with her. Despite it being a male lead, Charlie didn't crack or sour the song, her enthusiasm shining through as brightly as ever. Scatterblade hummed along bouncing Silverdust on his knee. Hound and Jazz eagerly joined in with the humans' singing, providing music to go with their song. Knockout sat back and watched with an amused smile while Mirage huffed and meandered away from the group. Arcee watched with a pleased smile, refusing to join in the singing but not so distant as Knockout chose to be. Illusory sat back away from the group, just watching quietly as everyone moved around. Rex began dancing to the song, and everything evolved from that point into an impromptu party where everyone danced and sang and made general fools of themselves while they were at it. Silverdust squealed happily at the goings-on, thoroughly enjoying the antics of the humans. Charlie shouted out song after song till everyone was exhausted.

As everyone filtered off to their respective duties, Illusory tried to herd her sparkling, Rex, and Charlie back into their small home stating Charlie needed to rest and that Rex had already been running around all morning. Charlie sighed, too tired to protest. She held onto Rex's arm and let him guide her back. When they went inside Charlie walked to their room taking the Rex with her. Rex didn't argue, knowing that Illusory meant well even if she was acting worse than a mother hen; Charlie did need rest anyway. He didn't mind relaxing with her for a while, at least until Charlie was resting comfortably and Illusory had calmed down. His leg ached anyway, and he could use a little down time.

Silverdust, however, was entirely not compliant with this idea. She had been wound up by the singing and dancing and wanted to _play_! She chittered and screeched angrily at Illusory as she was guided home. Charlie giggled uncontrollably at the little femme's temper tantrum. When she reached her room, she sat down on the mattress – a gift given to her for Hound after one of his ventures into town – and leaned back against the wall. She patted the bedding beside her, a soft grin playing on her face.

Rex smiled and happily climbed next to her. "How are you feeling?" He asked, gently rubbing his hand up her arm.

Charlie rested her head on his shoulder, tilting sideways. "Tired," she laughed.

"Hmm, I can imagine," he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close so she could rest against him. "You should probably get some sleep. It'll do you good."

"I know," she said with no interest in doing so. She traced his hands absentmindedly, enjoying his warmth.

"But?" He asked, catching her reluctance to comply. "What is it you would rather do?"

"I don't want you to let go," she said softly, wistfully, "I think I've fallen for you."

He smiled and laughed a little. "You couldn't make me let go, even if you wanted me to. I'm here for good."

She pulled his arms tighter around her. "I love you, Rex."

His breath caught for just a moment, and his heart thudded hard against his chest. "I love you, too, Charlie." He held her tight, burying his face in her hair and breathing deeply, never wanting to forget anything about this moment.

Charlie stayed that way just soaking in his touch. She turned to face him and buried her face in his neck, brushing her lips on his shoulder.

Rex rubbed her back, his mind racing with all the wonderful thoughts that could be - but the bad also came along for the ride. Still, he kept them to himself and basked in the glow of what he knew was a good thing, especially in these hard times. "I am a lucky man," he said confidently.

Charlie hummed and kissed his neck. "Just don't start calling me Irish. The hair's Swedish," she quipped.

Rex laughed, but leaned back, making himself more comfortable. "Aw, so no jokes about you being my lucky charm?"

"Not a single one," she sat up and touched her forehead to his. "You'll start getting slapped if you do."

"That could be fun," he hummed teasingly, leaning forward to kiss her lips.

She grinned into his kiss before melting, moving with his tender touch.

His hands rested lightly against the small of her back, rubbing circles against the tight muscles. "If you aren't careful, you won't get any rest at all," he warned slyly.

She sighed, directing him to a particular sore spot, leaning against his chest, her ear to his heart.

Gladly seeking out the aches, Rex continued to massage her back, enjoying having her laying against him, warm and safe. She wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, sleep threatening to end the moment. Rex let her stay, humming softly some song he had heard somewhere lulling her into sleep. He knew full well he wouldn't be able to escape once she was asleep with the way she was laying on him, but really, he didn't care. The woman hummed along, until she slipped away, a smile on her face.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	13. Chapter 13

Warning: Emotional content ahead.

* * *

~*~ Chapter Thirteen ~*~

Day 308

Outside of the small family home where few dared trespass, the other humans were busy doing the daily routines; walking the forest for foods that needed replenishing and checking traps that had been set for catching meat-animals. The 'bots did their rounds and scanned the airwaves for any evidence of their comrades - or ex-enemies. Either out of fear, safety or a good possibility of both, the comm channels were silent and had been for quite some time. Worry seeded into many a heart and spark but with the relief of routine, most kept their doubts to themselves.

The months passed by with such a busy air that when Kevin brought back news and propaganda he had found, only Charlie gave him much attention. Her back had begun to hurt, and Rex confined her to their small house for rest. Charlie looked over the papers with skepticism. Many of the posters had Prime's or Bumblebee's likeness, and it confused her to no end.

"How'd they get their pictures?" She couldn't help but ask. It made her think - hope really - that it meant at least those two were still alive.

Clouds started to roll in the next day, drenching the place in cold rain. Charlie stayed inside keeping Silverdust from playing in the mud. She looked out the streaming windows and hoped the 'bots weren't too irritated by the weather.

Time had done little to improve Illusory's seeming glitch - she grew more and more short tempered and had difficulties going into recharge, and then would recharge for longer and longer periods of time once she did shutdown. Knockout was utterly confounded by the continued downward spiral. Everything he had gotten from what scans he could do suggested the femme's self-repair systems should have repaired the damages done to her systems, holding her state stable if not improving it.

More than once Mirage had suggested the Decepticon medic had sabotaged the femme, which of course when Illusory caught wind of ended with her refusing any care from the mech at all. Arcee had come to terms with Illusory's uncontrollable distrust and had learned to work around it. As long as she didn't approach those Illusory felt she needed to protect without a proper amount of warning, Illusory seemed less likely to respond in an unfortunate manner. Though sometimes it didn't matter what anybody did - Illusory would be on a hair trigger and simply lose it because someone walked into her line of sight.

Hound did as best he could to help the growing frustrations of the sparkling kept under such tight lock and key by the femme; Illusory seemed to trust him to care for her sparkling most days.

Rex spent more and more time preparing things for the eventual arrival of their little boy; because by now he had decided he considered the child his by all rights except genetics, and that just didn't matter. He was excited to see the little boy and to raise him as his own.

The other ex-NEST members took up the slack where Rex was concerned without complaint - mostly because they didn't want to have to deal with the overly touchy femme that was always nearby - but also because they understood he needed to keep his focus on his family for the time being.

Scatterblade was helping the soldiers with a leak in the foundry roof, so they didn't soak any further while Charlie kept both Illusory and her sparkling company when the wind picked up and thunder began to rumble in the distance.

Today was one of Illusory's worse days, fretting about the dangers of flooding, chill, mold, and other various things that came with water. She had put everything on top of tables and crates to make sure they stayed dry. Charlie sighed and tried to ease the femme's mind, coaching her on the likeliness for flooding in this area, and the simple fact that it wasn't a big storm. "It's just a little thunder and lightning," she was saying when a blast knocked her off her feet. Charlie caught herself on the wall. Three more shook the ground.

Illusory went stiff, then collapsed to the floor, Silverdust doing the same.

"Lu!" Charlie stared in horror at her friends. "Lu..." She bolted from the house running through the mud to the foundry. She pulled open the door only to see four unfamiliar frames land with a splash behind her. They were tall, metallic, and sent Charlie straight into the building. She leaned on the door breathing heavily, her eyes searching for the others. "No..."

Scatterblade was on his hands and knees, one hand holding his head. His movements were jerky, and his optics flashed on and off. Jazz wasn't far off, just getting back to his feet - used to recovering quickly from a wide variety of things, and Mirage not far behind him.

Hound had been out on patrol that day - being the only 'bot among them that didn't mind the rain and mud so much. Arcee, Prowl, and Blur were nowhere to be seen. The people among the group rushed to the sides of their mechanical friends, offering what they were able to in cover - whatever weapons they had grown accustomed to carrying drawn and ready.

"Charlie!" Rex shouted his mind instantly on the woman for whom he cared.

She ran to him just as four more Cybertronians crashed through the roof, two pinning Scatterblade down and the other pair rounding on Jazz and Mirage. With the gray mech secured in stasis cuffs, one of the two securing him joined his comrades in warding off the remaining bots and humans.

The humans opened fire on the mechs that were posing a threat to their friends. Jazz spent little time in choosing his opponent and rushed into an attack, Mirage shimmered from view, and for all anyone knew of him, disappeared. The mechs fought hard, blasting Jazz and trying to get a fix on the camouflaged 'bot. Three more mechs landed jumping straight into the fight. The mech on Scatterblade pulled him to the wall. Jazz did well to hold off the mechs attacking him but made no headway in reaching Scatterblade. Still, he didn't seem overly stressed by the matter as he kept fighting.

The mech holding Scatterblade quickly found himself thrown away from his prisoner by a foot to his back, shoving him away, the momentum aided by a quick blast from a rifle. Mirage appeared standing beside Scatterblade, dropping to try and release the stasis cuffs. Two mechs charged Mirage hitting him with a direct EMP blast.

"Alright, alright. Knock it off, all of you," a voice echoed off the walls among thunder claps, "wouldn't want to lose our heads." The mech speaking was dark purple with blue highlights. Illusory was slung over his shoulder, Silverdust tucked under his arm.

Jazz swung one last time, taking down one of the mechs he had been up against, his anger showing clearly in the force of the blow that laid the mech out flat. Mirage stilled but kept his hands working on the cuffs, nearly undetectable. The humans were torn, clearly, as they aimed their guns at this new arrival but would not fire on him while he held two of their friends - one of them just a child.

"What are you doing?" Rex shouted, putting Charlie behind him protectively and pushing her toward a safe place.

Swindle looked at the man, his optics unconcerned. Then he saw Charlie. "Interesting..." He turned back to the 'bots. "I really do hate to make a mess. I'm a tad on the squeamish side." His hand folded in, and he pressed the emerging weapon to Illusory's head.

"No!" Scatterblade barked, panic lighting in his chassis.

Swindle smiled. "Gotcha. Take him," he ordered.

Of the seven in the foundry, two joined the first and shoved Mirage off of him. Mirage growled as he was shoved off, almost pressing his attack, but a quick glance around stilled him.

Swindle spoke into a comm, and shortly two more mechs landed outside. He handed his burdens to one of them before turning to Scatterblade. "I'm surprised at you," he laughed, "bonding with a femme while in the throes of war. Pretty reckless, if you ask me. And making a sparkling? Wow. Lucky me, that raises the price I can charge for all three of you."

"Raise the price? " Rex asked with shock. "What do you mean? Why are you turning against your own kind like this?"

"Because that's who he is," Jazz growled dangerously, searching for any weak spot he could use to get at the grifter. "Always were uh lowlife, Swindle. Glad ta see some things don't change."

The mech shrugged. "Why wreck a sure thing?" He walked toward Rex and Charlie, his optics on the woman. "Now, here's something special. You know you don't see many cyborgs on this planet. Could get a little extra." He shoved the soldier aside and picked up the woman in his fist.

Scatterblade struggled against his bonds. "Put her down!"

Swindle laughed. "Don't tell me you bonded with this one, too. That's just wrong." He glanced to Jazz and Mirage. "Careful, 'bots, I do spook easily." He squeezed lightly, and Charlie gasped. She tried to push against his fingers, but with her arms pinned to her side, she could just barely breathe.

"No!" Rex shouted turning his weapon on the mech and firing a quick burst, his desperation to protect Charlie overriding his common sense. "You hurt her and I will kill you!"

Swindle shook his head at him. "You'll be doing that yourself if you're not careful."

"Let her go!" He demanded.

The mech scowled at this human's impertinent demand but then smirked. He spoke into his comm again and the mech carrying Illusory, and her sparkling moved through the door. Scatterblade was hoisted to his feet and shoved in that direction as well. "Now, everybody stay calm. My business isn't very lethal, but theirs is."

Rex glared from the femme and sparkling numbed in their captors' grasp to Charlie held tight by Swindle, and his heart hurt, panic and fear stabbed at him relentlessly telling him to _do_ something.

"Rex," Vance called from across the room, "calm down before someone gets hurt."

"I'm not letting him take her!" he growled.

"You don't have much choice," Mirage admitted with considerable annoyance.

Swindle grinned. "It's been a while. Let's do this again," he waved to Jazz as made his exit, the building always in his sights. A large ship sat just below the clouds, a bundle of netting descended from it to accept the mechs guarding Scatterblade and his family.

The grifter put a foot on the netting and pulled himself up. He looked at the woman still clutched in his fist. "On second thought, we don't really have a place to put you." He dropped her with an amused grin.

Charlie cried out for help as she fell, landing on the muddy earth with a thud. She couldn't move, gasping for air as the world spun around her, blackness threatening to take her.

Rex had followed as closely as he dared, anxiety flooding his whole body. When Swindle dropped Charlie, he ran, knowing he wouldn't reach her in time and his mind playing Hell with what he would find when he reached her. "KNOCKOUT!" He yelled for the medic who appeared to of been held at bay in his infirmary.

The red mech rushed to the women's side, scanning for severe damage. Prowl appeared from the trees and joined the others as they all rushed to stand around the woman in a protective circle, not that there was any danger left, but they refused to take the chance.

"Charlie, it'll be okay. I'm here, we've got you." Rex spoke softly to her, his voice far more confident than he felt.

Charlie reached out to him, gasping in sobs. "It...hurts-" she choked. Her belly hardened and as she lay soaking in the mud, she felt a warming around her legs.

Knockout was visibly disturbed by what he saw in his scans. "She needs professional help...human help. I don't know what to do for this." He only hesitated for a few kliks longer before transforming and opening his door. "Quickly."

Rex continued to talk to Charlie, telling her that everything would be okay. He scooped her into his arms and slid into the back seat with her. Vance jumped into the driver's seat, refusing to let them go without backup.

"I will lead the way," Prowl stated, transforming into his local law enforcement alt mode he had been sure to adopt as soon as they established their intent to remain here. His siren blared to life as the group rushed off.

The woman tried hard to breathe normally but the pain sharpened and she grabbed onto Rex's chest. His support was the only thing she focused on. The more she thought about the pain, the thicker the blurry darkness became around her vision. Her mind spun with the intensity, jumping forward through everything she had hoped for, to arriving at the hospital, to what might happen should the bots show themselves.

"Rex," she groaned, "you can't...stay. They'll...take you away."

"I don't care," he said firmly. "I'm not leaving you alone. "

Charlie argued with him, tears drenching her face, but he remained adamant. The ride was quick but every second brought more pain and terror to her heart.

When they reached the hospital, Vance was the one to bolt out of the car and rush inside for help. Rex just held Charlie and waited, knowing that no matter what happened now, nothing was going to be the same. He was going to stay with Charlie, he was determined, but he also knew that the moment he was recognized he would be arrested and hauled away as a traitor...and whatever happened to him after that he couldn't say, but he was almost sure it would mean never seeing Charlie again. Leaving Charlie wasn't even a thought to him because he knew he would never see her again that way either. He would far rather be with her in her time of need. Charlie pleaded with Knockout to take Rex, but she was swept away, the pain intensified. The staff rushed out and collected Charlie from Rex's embrace; the man tried his best to explain what was happening - that she was pregnant and had fallen a good distance; though he didn't say from where or how. The nurses let him follow as far as the emergency room, holding him outside until he could be further questioned and Charlie's state could be determined.

Her mind swam as the doctors puzzled over her arm but quickly determined the necessity of performing an emergency cesarean section. She didn't offer her name, she didn't speak to anyone. She just pleaded, prayed, that Aiden would survive.

The doctors immediately prepared the woman for surgery.

Gripping the table with her metal hand and a pole in the other that held a curtain to block her view.

"How far along are you?" A nurse asked urgently.

"A little over eight months."

"We'll do everything we can for you and the baby. Try to stay calm."

She could hear the resounding 'but' echo off the walls as they numbed her, preparing for surgery. As the pain faded, she was finally able to breathe.

The procedure was over quickly; the doctors called it a successful maternal save.

Charlie waited for a cry, for a smiling nurse with a blanketed bundle. She watched as the group of physicians huddle in the corner, tears filling her eyes. "Aiden?" she called out fearfully.

A nurse turned around, looked at his colleague and with the doctor's nod, turned his back one more time. He cradled an impossibly small infant, wrapped in a yellow blanket. "I'm sorry. There was too much damage. We couldn't save him."

Charlie held out her arms. The nurse hesitated at the metal appendage, and Charlie lowered it. He approached and carefully laid the preemie into her arms. The little boy's eyes were closed, and the warmth was slowly fading from his body.

Charlie stared at him for a long moment before bending her head and kissing his tiny crown. "I'll always love you," she whispered. Tears fell harder, and the nurses left the woman.

Rex paced uncertainly outside the door, waiting for any news. He had gotten the cold shoulder from the doctors and nursing staff until one man, clearly from the social services part of the system approached him wanting to ask questions about how these things had come to pass. Rex fretted for a long time about what to tell and what not to tell. "It was an accident," was all he could say, his own fear very visible to any looking as he fought back the tears trying to remain the strong soldier he was. The social worker looked torn between buying Rex's honest distress and thinking it was all a load of crock to cover up an abusive partner.

Vance had wormed his way into the back where Rex was and stood with his friend. "It'll be okay," he assured the worried man.

Rex only shook his head knowing otherwise. "They're already asking questions; it's just a matter of time...not to mention the baby." He sighed, rubbed his hand through his hair and then over his face. "It was going to be ours," he almost sobbed.

"What do you mean, was going to be?" Vance asked, but Rex didn't answer.

The two men waited for any news, Rex unable to sit still even when Vance forced him down with a cup of coffee shoved into his hand. He was up again in less than a minute pacing again.

Finally one of the nurses came up to Rex, a grim look on her face. "The mother will be fine," she said, "but the baby...I'm sorry, he didn't survive."

Pain shot through Rex. He had come to think of that child as his; he had looked forward to holding him, to raising him, but now?

"Can I...see them?"

The nurse nodded, leading the way back to the recovery area Charlie would be taken to once she was sewn up.

Vance patted Rex on the back, "I'll wait for you outside, don't...um, try not to be too long, okay?"

"I'm not going anywhere without her," he said sadly, knowing exactly what he was condemning himself to, but not caring. Charlie would need him now, and he wasn't going to leave her alone. "Why don't you take the car and go home," he suggested, meaning thick in his voice. "The others...will need to be updated."

Charlie lay in the room holding the baby to her chest and staring at the ceiling. Tears streamed down her face and wet her hair. She put her finger into his small hand and didn't move, even as the little body grew cold.

Rex rushed to her side, trying to decide what he should do. Seeing the tiny lifeless body cradled in her arms his whole body just sagged. "Oh, Aiden..." He touched the small bundle with one hand while running one hand over Charlie's wet cheek. He had no other words to say, his heart was breaking, and he just didn't know how to make this any better.

Charlie grabbed his hand and looked up at him. She couldn't speak for a few moments and just pulled him down into a hug which he came to easily, careful not to put any weight on her, but more than willing to provide the simple comfort.

A nurse came by every forty minutes to see if they were ready for her to collect the body. The first time she came in and spoke of on-site cremation services, Charlie wept. After that, she only stood in the doorway and waited for a nod. Nearly an hour and a half went by before Charlie picked up the little bundle and gave him one last kiss. Rex took the stillborn and held him close before turning him over to the nurse, a look of longing and deep sorrow in his eyes. Charlie tugged on the soldier and brought him down for another hug. "They're gone, aren't they?" She choked out in a strangled whisper.

"Yes, I sent Vance to take them home," he said, sharing her concern for the others. "They'll be okay."

Charlie shook her head. "Lu..Silver..."

"They'll find them," he forced confidence in his voice, though the image of the limp femme and her sparkling wouldn't leave his mind. "At least they're together. They'll be okay."

Charlie cried hard, more out of relief that she wasn't by herself; that he hadn't listened to her and stayed instead. Time ticked by so slowly and she felt her sorrow drag on into eternity.

When she finally quieted, she was exhausted, and her arms were tired from holding Rex close to her. As gently as he could, the man crawled into the bed beside her and held her in his arms. "Sleep, I'll stay right here."

"You better," she tried to joke, but it came out as a tired plea.

"Forever," he promised.

She tried to smile and closed her eyes, burying her face in his neck. She slept that night fitfully, waking and searching for her soldier only to find she'd bruised his nose with her movements, _again_. Rex tolerated Charlie's fitful rest quickly enough; the bruises would go away soon enough, the pain in their hearts wouldn't.

The following morning, a nurse came with food for her. He looked warily at her arm but didn't say anything.

Charlie huffed and fiddled with some piece within the machinery and the hologram system Wheeljack had set up, sprang to life. Her arms now matching, she gave the nurse a dirty look.

He scrambled out of the room.

After the nurse had vanished, Rex took a deep breath, knowing their time was very short. "Charlie," he started, wanting her to know that no matter what happened it was his intention to stay with her and he didn't regret his decision. His words fell short though; he didn't want to say that he was almost certain they would be separated and that he was likely not to see her ever again. He couldn't say it.

"Eat," he finally said, smiling at her and nudging the tray a little more in her direction.

Charlie looked down at it. She knew she couldn't eat, but knew she needed it. She picked at it before the signal from her stomach finally reached her brain.

After she finished, she looked to Rex. It was like she could read his mind in that moment and she knew what his intentions were. "Sweetie, you can't stay. I'll be alright."

"No," he said with the fire of his need to be with her. "I'm not leaving you."

"They won't let you choose," she shook her head, pain in her eyes. "We'll both be arrested. They won't keep us together."

"I..." his hard shell cracked at that point. "I know, but I don't want to sacrifice a single second I could be with you. Not for anything." He grabbed her hand in his as though the physical touch could convey how much he meant it. He would die, happily, if it meant his last moment was with her.

Charlie brought his hand to her lips. "I love you. I need you to go."

"Charlie," he said with some frustration and a lot of love. "I can't."

She scowled at him and balled up her fist. It was a weak punch to his shoulder. "I wish you would listen."

Just then, a knock on her door caused her to jump. The nurse had returned. "We'd like to bring up the ashes if you're ready."

Pain sparked in her chest, but Charlie nodded. A few moments later, the nurse returned with a small blue urn. Charlie took it and gently placed it on the side table.

Rex looked at the little thing - a thing that represented a life that should have been but now wasn't because of Swindle. He hated the mech and the people that were like him. It didn't matter if they were giant robots or human, there were his kind everywhere.

The nurse left, and Charlie sighed brokenly. "What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know," Rex admitted softly. "I'm sorry, I wish I did."

The woman sighed. "Get me a glass of water?"

"Yeah," he agreed, turning to do so.

Charlie sat up straighter and watched the door warily.

Pouring the water and turning back to hand it to Charlie, Rex noted her wary gaze; his own shifted to the door for just a moment before turning back to Charlie.

"Sit with me."

He slid on the bed beside her, happy to be close.

There came a sharp knock on the door, gaining both of their attention and Rex felt his heart drop into his stomach and his guts wrenched horribly. A large man entered with two equally sized men flanking the door behind him. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Rex tensed, not sure what he was going to do. Any fight and he risked hurting Charlie, and he knew how this was going to end anyway. He held Charlie tightly, not wanting to leave her side. She gripping his arm, fear lit up on her face.

"Sir, don't make this worse than it has to be," the man warned, his stance showing that he was armed and that he was more than willing to use it if he had to.

Rex sighed deeply, kissed Charlie as sweetly as he could and whispered, "I love you," before standing to face the brute of a man.

"No, please," she lifted herself up to follow after him.

"Charlie," he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her, "we knew this would be how it ended..." his voice was steady, but there were shadows in his eyes.

The red head set her eyes on the men. Her jaw tightened and an angry glare built on her face.

The front man grabbed Rex's arm and guided him back toward the door where the other two men flanked them and headed out of the hospital.

Charlie scrambled from the bed, not making it far as she remembered her sutures. "No..." she groaned pulling herself to her feet. She looked up to the door and saw a man and a woman in the doorway. She glared at them as they approached. The man gently pulled her up and settled her on the bed.

"We'll be taking you with us in a few days," he said, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and restraining her right hand on the rail.

Outside of the hospital, Rex was cuffed and shoved into a black sedan.

"Rex Wakeheart, you are under arrest for treason against your country, evading the law, damage and theft of government property, murder," the man trailed on for a while, several meaningless accusations thrown on top of the greater ones to make the list seem more daunting than it was. "You have the right to remain silent," the man ended, slamming the door shut before going to the driver's seat. The other two men filed in, one in the back beside Rex, the other taking the other front seat. Rex felt that this was his grim escort to his own grave. With one last longing look back at the hospital, Rex gave himself to his fate.

Charlie wasn't left alone for a moment. She only saw the doctor in the morning and evening. She didn't speak when they asked her about what happened or where she'd been hiding. Her treatment was only better because of her injuries. After four days of the hospital, she was set in a wheelchair and checked out. She clutched the little urn, her only link to her captured loved ones like a lifeline.

She was taken to a black car and driven to the airport. Her destination from there was Quantico, CIA.

She tried to avoid the eyes of all the people as she went through an entirely empty checkpoint. Other passengers in an opposite isle wondered why she was given special treatment, going through security alone, until they saw the handcuffs and the guards. The man and woman who had arrived at the hospital, Tanya and Devin - she didn't hear their last names - guided her around the metal detectors and into a back room.

Tanya, a sour look on her face, asked the cuffs to be removed, then demanded of the young woman to show them her weapon. Charlie was beyond confused and simply stared at the floor. Tanya then went into a rant about how they knew she had fired on fellow Americans and that alone was reason enough to be imprisoned for the rest of her life. She wanted whatever ammunition she had on her.

Charlie glanced up at the woman, distrust clear in her posture, her right arm behind her back.

Another string of threats and safety protocols streamed from the agent and Charlie finally complied. With a quick flick, the gun appeared, her hologram disappearing. She showed the woman the clip, empty.

"I have only used it the one time. You think I like shooting at people? Any people?"

Tanya folded her arms and glared at her. Clearly, that was exactly what she was thinking.

Her partner stood off to the side ready to apply the cuffs once more. Charlie didn't resist. In her condition, she wouldn't have been able to run anyway.

They loaded her onto the plane close to the window and out of the public's eye. Charlie fixed her hologram again to avoid the stares. It was a long flight and Charlie slept despite all the distrust, fear and anxiety filling her chest.

They arrived in the evening, the sun having set an hour ago. Charlie was guided to yet another series of cars and arrived at a hotel. Her stomach twisted with worry. She had expected prison, not a warm bed and a shower.

Tanya opened the door and led Charlie to a bedroom. "Get some rest," she said shortly.

Devin removed the handcuffs and closed the door behind him.

Charlie stood dumbfounded, the little blue urn still held tightly in her arms. She sat on the bed, her sutures shifting uncomfortably. Placing the urn on the table, she stood again and walked to the small bathroom. When she glanced at the mirror she froze.

Her face was dark from lack of rest, but her hair puzzled her. She hadn't seen herself since she'd dyed it. Over the months, the red had started to grow back in. Nearly two inches of the hair from the roots were bright red then faded to brown and hung just above her shoulders.

She shivered imagining Rex standing behind her. She opened the cabinet to shove the illusion away. Carefully, she peeled off her clothes and started the water to shower. Once under the warm torrents, she cried. She sat in the tub, curled into a ball and wept. She cried for her family of bots, her son, and her loyal soldier.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	14. Chapter 14

~*~ Chapter Fourteen ~*~

Day 310

Charlie

When Charlie woke the next morning, she rolled over, reaching for Rex. When she couldn't find his warmth, she pushed herself up. Her belly ached horribly, and she groaned. "Aiden, stop kickin' Momma."

She froze as she looked at her flat stomach. Trembling, she sat down, the week's events flooded back to her. The small blue urn still sat on the table.

Her eyes burned, and her stomach churned. She quickly stumbled to the toilet and puked. Her retching soon gave way to sobbing while she clung to the toilet bowl, barely having the strength to sit up straight. A soft knock at her door gave her some strength as she jerked up.

"You awake?" Devin asked through the wood.

Her throat raw, she flushed the toilet in response.

The dark man didn't enter. Tanya, on the other hand, flung the door open. She grimaced at the scene in the bathroom. "Clean up; we're leaving soon." She left the doorway and Charlie promptly lifted her long metal finger.

She stayed on the floor for a moment, catching her breath and easing the ache inside. Tanya gave another gruff reminder, prompting Charlie to turn on the shower faucet.

Twenty-five minutes later, she walked out of the bedroom dressed in a sweatshirt and pants provided by the agents. She shook the towel from her head.

"Now am I going to prison?" Her question was flat, and she didn't expect an answer.

The woman sighed and walked out into the hallway. Devin pulled out his handcuffs once more. "We're going to ask you some questions at our facility."

Charlie furrowed her brow. "Will we be coming back?" She glanced to the bedroom again to the blue urn.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure it's safe." He clasped her hands in front.

She looked at him puzzled.

"You have my condolences, by the way."

"Thank you," she offered softly. Her heart sank as they left the room.

The ride was short. The building they stopped in was massive with something of a penthouse on the top floor.

"Where are we?"

Tanya didn't offer any answers and shot Devin a look. He shrugged but continued driving up the parking garage. They got out of the car and moved into an elevator that stopped just below the penthouse.

When the elevator opened, she saw a massive hallway, the walls lined in monitors that played some kind of commercial. She stared at the woman who talked on and on about making a better version of Bumblebee. She didn't understand what that meant until she saw what she was talking about.

Were they building...'bots? The image on the screen looked a lot like Bumblebee, only red and labeled 'Stinger.'

Devin and Tanya moved her onward to a receptionist who then buzzed them into a private office.

Compared to the rest of the building, this room was almost welcoming. The single room boasted an oak desk, an American flag encased on the wall and several awards and medals on the bookshelf behind the desk. An older gentleman with graying hair and a neatly cropped beard, sat with a calculating stare, his glasses glinting in light as the door opened.

Charlie shuddered as Cretton's face entered her mind. This was a different man, but he certainly had similarities.

He gave a tight-lipped smile and stood. "Have a seat, Miss Hall."

Charlie's heart jumped. She had been careful not to mention her name to anyone. This was bad. She steeled herself for whatever else this man knew.

She sat slowly, her body tense and guarded, the cuffs making her feel more vulnerable than she already felt. The man nodded, and the agents left the room.

"I understand you recently lost your son. I'm truly sorry."

Charlie's heart sped.

He held out his right hand, and she flinched. "I'm Attinger, security director of this facility." If he wanted a shake, he wasn't getting it.

"Miss Hall," he dropped his hand, concern moving in his eyes, "you've been through so much, and in order for you to begin to heal, we need to clarify a few things. Many victims don't understand that they were harmed, so it's perfectly normal to-"

"Victim?" She blinked. "I'm not a victim," she scoffed. "Falsely arrested but not a- what are talking about?"

"It's called Stockholm syndrome, Miss Hall. The victim starts to associate with their kidnapper. They can even develop false feelings for their captors. They held you for almost a year. When we learned about your accident, we pulled you out of that situation as quickly as we could."

Charlie stared at him for a good minute. Then she spoke with a shadow of a chuckle. "What are talking about? I was in that facility for maybe a few days."

Attinger shook his head. "I'm talking about the Transformers, Miss Hall."

She burst into a laughing fit. Her face turned red, and she gasped for breath. "You think I was kidnapped by aliens?" Her laughter morphed into an angry snarl. "It wasn't the aliens who raped me!"

"No, a disgraced soldier did."

Charlie's face turned a deeper red. "They rescued me from that Hellhole. My _family_ came to save me."

"Hence the Stockholm syndrome. It's quite a common occurrence; nothing to be ashamed of."

Charlie was shaking with anger. She sat back in her seat, "You're one of them, aren't you? You're hunting them. And you hacked NEST to firebomb my home!"

"NEST was disbanded and their files transferred to me."

She stared at him

"We've been finding them," he nodded, "and keeping this country safe."

"You just leave out the fact that you're killing them," Charlie ground her teeth.

Attinger's eyes narrowed. "They were never supposed to be here. This is our planet. They crossed the line by trying to colonize."

Charlie scoffed. "Now you're just making crap up."

"Their leader sent a message into space. An open invitation to war."

She shook her head. "Prime was offering a home. A place to escape the war."

"Yes, well - look how that worked out. Hundreds of people are dead because of them. The bad guys keep flocking to this planet. Getting rid of them all is the only course of action to keep our citizens safe."

Charlie stared at him, "Okay, Hitler. That's genocide."

"Watch your tone with me," he said slowly.

She sat up straighter in her chair her bound hands anchoring her. "No. Why are you telling me this? You think because I'm damaged I'm going to turn my back on them? I just lost my family, to both of you," he voice broke, "You killed Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, and God knows who else... and you expect me to help you?" She balled up her fists and slammed them on the table. "I'd rather die!"

Devin barged into the room and forced the woman back into her seat.

"You'll help me or Mr. Wakeheart's execution date will set in stone."

Charlie's heart stopped, rage filled her eyes, and she launched out of her chair. Devin held her back, restraining her much stronger appendage.

Attinger re-positioned his glasses, unphased by her outburst. "I'll let you think it over. Take her downstairs."

Charlie fought against them unknowingly tearing her stitches, staining her shirt red. Moments later the pain hit and her swinging stopped. A second agent appeared and together with Devin they guided her to an elevator, different from the first one leading to the parking garage.

She hung limply between the two men as she tried to keep her vision from blackening, her ears ringing. When the elevator stopped Devin lifted her to her feet.

Trembling with anger, she walked blindly beside him. When they stopped she looked up at another long hall; this one overlooked a factory. They walked farther down the hall and for a few paces, she didn't know what she was seeing. Then she saw a familiar face and screamed.

Devin watched the woman confusion clear on his face. She pressed her hands to the glass as if to reach through to the head beyond. She wept bitterly, banging her hands on the window a few times, fresh grief welling in her guts.

Double agents and traitors were hard to understand, to begin with, Devin knew, but as he studied this woman he was beyond baffled by how distraught she became, all for a Decepticon's remains.

The man tried to view this scene from her shoes, but seeing past Chicago wasn't easy. He caught a few intelligible words among her sobbing, though they still didn't make sense.

"Oh, Ratchet. No, not you...sorry...why..." She started to hum and, at first, Devin thought she'd finally succumbed to shock, but as her tears and gasping subsided, the man heard a soft melody. It died just as painfully as it started and the woman pressed her head to the glass before slumping to the floor.

This time they went all the way to the penthouse.

Charlie was swimming in anger and sorrow, and she just didn't have the strength to fight free. If Attinger wanted to demoralize her, he had just earned his gold star.

Ratchet's empty optics burned onto her heart, ripping away her tender moment at Sideswipe's grave.

Devin walked her down a hall past a living space and into a bedroom. He removed her restraints before locking the door behind him.

Charlie curled in on herself, her body shaking terribly. She stayed that way for some time, drifting into a sleep fit for the dead. It left her feeling like a zombie, all right. Angry, hungry and exhausted she roused enough to see a plate with food and slowly urged herself to eat it. Her head pounded, and she cracked open the bottle of water next to the tray.

Images, memories of her last visit to the base, pulsed through her.

Seeing Sunny's murals and Sides's antics. How angry Ironhide pretended to be with the twins. Scatterblade sparing with his war hero. Illusory happily watching Arcee marvel over Silverdust. Trying not to laugh at how animated Ratchet would get when he told his stories of Cybertron. Each pulse grew heavier, and she saw Illusory's blind anger and shunning of Arcee. Scatterblade in irons. Ironhide was missing since the beginning. Sideswipe's grave and Ratchet's head downstairs.

Her stomach twisted, and she put down her fork.

A knock at the door made her jump, sending the fork and water bottle flying from their spot on the tray resting on the bed.

Devin looked down at the mess from the open door. "Miss Hall? Mr. Attinger would like to speak with you."

Her body tensed immediately, and she glared at him, her fist clenching the sheets.

The black man sighed, walked into the room, and gently lifted the woman to her feet.

She went, keeping her eyes on the door. She blinked a flinch from her face and her heart hammered in her chest when she saw the older man sitting on the couch outside of her room. She had expected to be dragged back down to his office for another one on one.

He drank from a glass, the brown liquid unidentifiable to her. Charlie had never had alcohol, so she wouldn't have been able to guess what it was. When Attinger saw her, he stood and placed the glass on the small table between the chairs and couch.

"Miss Hall. Have a seat." He walked to a corner where more glasses sat next to a pair of crystal bottles of his same drink and another redder in color nestled in ice. "Would you like a glass?"

Charlie sat in the chair as directed, her back rigid. "I don't drink," she said shortly.

The man nodded and sat back down across the table. "Miss Hall, I don't believe you understand the gravity of your situation."

"I think you made it clear when you threatened his life," her normal snarky tone was dimmed if not somewhat guarded.

Attinger nodded again. "Then you know I can make this go away for both of you."

Charlie's brow furrowed but she didn't bite.

"You're a civilian, the type of person I have spent the better part of my career trying to protect. Your companion might need a little more help with his military career in the junkheap. Pardon the expression," he added as an afterthought.

Her frown deepened. "I told you. I'm not helping you." Internally she scolded herself for rising to the bait.

"And we've already established that my intentions regarding Mr. Wakeheart are very clear."

Charlie gripped the chair since she couldn't get close enough to Attinger's neck without being shot.

"You help me find them, you both walk away from this."

Her throat tightened. "I'm not selling out my family." She trembled as she spoke.

Attinger's nose twitched. "Miss Hall," his voice was short and clipped, "those aliens nearly killed you. This is a war, and I'm offering you immunity to all this fighting. You can either take it or spend the rest of your life in prison with Wakeheart's death on your head." He softened though not by much. "We have lost too much just to wait for another city to be leveled."

Charlie clenched her teeth tightly. "My son is dead, his father in custody and my sister and brother are imprisoned. Don't lecture me about loss." She looked up at the two men who stood guard. "Don't you know who you're targeting? The Autobots have saved our asses countless times. Mine included."

"You lost your arm riding in one of them."

"That was a drunk driver," she pointed at him. "They just want to live in peace. You ever considered you might learn something from them?" She held up her right arm. "Wheeljack and Ratchet designed this. I was tired of being useless, so I had 'Jack squeeze in a gun. Hell, he even added a comm link..." She paused. She hadn't meant to say that. Charlie shook her head. The room had started to tilt as she raged. What had she just said?

Attinger had a triumphant look on his face. His smile made her stomach turn.

"The CIA have a few toys as well." Attinger stood and from his pocket produced a little bottle. "The real name is too complicated for your muddled mind to understand at the moment, but in layman's terms it's a truth serum."

Charlie's body shook with anger. "You son of a bitch." She launched at him, but Devin clotheslined her and shoved her back to her seat. She gasped for air, and her world spun.

The other agent tinkered with her arm asking rapid fire questions, 'where is the communication device,' 'how do you access it,' 'where is your ammunition.' Before she could stop herself, he had his answers and had ripped the components free.

"They're Autobots! They fought for us," she growled pushing in vain at the arms that held her. Her struggles grew weaker; her anger sapped her strength. "You're only making them angry. They'll have a cause again, and you won't be happy when they find you."

Attinger leaned back in his seat. "When they find me, they'll condemn themselves as the threats to this world that they are, and I'll have all the backing I need. But when I find them, they'll be dead."

The man stood, the techs exiting the room first. "I'm going to call on you again."

"Fuck off," Charlie slurred. Devin released his hold on her, lowing his hand. The redhead slumped in her seat; everything was heavy as lead. Devin pocketed the empty syringe and followed Attinger out.

Darkness enveloped her and Charlie spiraled into nightmares.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	15. Chapter 15

~*~ Chapter Fifteen ~*~

Day 310

Scatterblade, Illusory, and Silverdust

The frontliner played out that scene over and over, rage filling every circuit in his frame: Swindle just dropped her and then flew away. In the net, Scatterblade had wanted to grab the mech and throttle him, but with his family still unconscious he couldn't risk hurting them for his own pointless satisfaction.

He gripped Silverdust and kept her close to his chassis. With his hands bound, he couldn't do much for Illusory, but he sent her warmth and his own determination through their bond. 'Please, wake up.'

As they neared the spacecraft, Scatterblade hid Silverdust as best he could from the crew's prying eyes. The ship pulled the net inside, and Swindle disembarked with a graceful hop.

"Let your captain know I have a few more for his trophy room." The mech walked away toward the ship's energon dispensary.

Scatterblade glared at the hands dragging them along, specifically the ones belonging to the mech who had subdued him. The guard lifted the mech to his feet. He clung tightly to his sparkling, shielding her as much as possible. Another mech threw Illusory over his shoulder and led the way through the ship.

Cries and calls came from the pods as creatures tried to grab anything within reach beyond their cage doors. They passed row after row of such disgusting variants that Scatterblade wouldn't have known where to begin placing all these species.

The group stopped at another row, this time simple boxes for cells with bars reinforced with a magnetic field. Scatterblade was shoved inside. The small space was barely big enough to turn around in, and when he did accomplish it, the field was turned on. Illusory was taken further down the hall.

Scatterblade barely had enough sense to release the sparkling gently before ramming into the door, only to hit a solid wall a foot from the door. The door repelled him, keeping his place firm. He watched as the mech put Illusory in a cell several spots down. He couldn't even see her from his cell.

Just opposite the door were more bars serving as ventilation, though it was terribly insufficient. The only thing that came through was a voice.

Scatterblade vented heavily staring at the floor unable to unify his thoughts. Then the voice registered.

"Would you keep it down? Some of us are trying to recharge."

"Who's there?" Scatterblade turned and gathered Silverdust once more.

"No'bot," the mech grunted a bit of an edge in his voice.

"Do you see a femme?" Scatterblade demanded.

"I ain't seen a femme in vorns."

"She's just down the hall. Do you see her?"

"I don't know," the mech said annoyed, "Why don't you reboot your optics and-" he had climbed to his feet and slung an arm through the bars. His pale purple optics widened.

"Scatterbrain, is that you?" An excitement rang through his voice.

Scatterblade didn't respond for several kilks; his mouth hung open. "Blindside?"

The mech straightened further, a grin on his face.

Scatterblade almost couldn't recognize him, the mech's armor and weapons were gone. He looked like he had been reverted to his protoform.

"Look who the Pit spit out. What are you doing here?" Blindside's question made it sound like being a POW was a status or a club.

Scatterblade continued to stare at him. "You...you were deactivated. I saw..." his voice trailed off.

The mech chuckled. "Takes more than that to end me. Bounty or no bounty, I'm a tough slagger to kill."

Scatterblade couldn't help a laugh from escaping, but his processor still spun at seeing him. A long ago conversation he had with Illusory about having friends on both sides of the war sounded again in his audios.

 _"I had a friend that chose the other side. I tried so hard to convince him not to; we had so many of the same thoughts on everything. Ended up fighting him later on. He didn't make it out."_

He stared at Blindside once more. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, come on, Scatter, don't go leaking lubricant." The mech rested his arm through the bars and then his chin on his arm. "It's really good to see you."

"Blindside..." he grunted.

He rolled his optics. "After the medic fixed me up, I went on business as usual...until the attack on the school." His voice was softer, regret heavy on his tone.

Scatterblade nodded, pushing the sadness back. The Decepticons had attacked a large facility that housed the femme and youngling population. It was supposed to have been a safe haven from the war where innocents could take refuge. That attack had been one of the major factors in demoralizing the cause. Everyone that they had been fighting for, to protect, had been made one with the All-Spark.

"I turned rouge. Didn't want anything to do with either side. I basically turned pirate, and the rest is history," he said grinning again. "I've gotten out of worse scraps than this."

Scatterblade brightened. "So, you can get us out of here?"

"What's the rush? He ain't killing us, and there's enough energon on this tub to last a good few vorns.

"Do you know what's been going down on that planet? Ugly here is helping the natives pick us off."

"What?" A shiver ran through his frame. "He's working with the humans? Honestly, then we're safer up here."

Scatterblade shook his head. "My team is down there. I have to get them to safety."

"The femme, too?" The mech asked his optics now off to his right.

The gray mech nodded. "Yes. I need to get both of them out."

Blindside lifted his head confusion evident on his faceplates. Scatterblade raised the protective arm from Silverdust, the small femme still in stasis.

Blindside gaped then smiled. "Well, I'll be slagged. You're a creator?"

He nodded tucking the little one safely away again.

"Well," he vented, "with her, things just got a bit more complicated. It'll take time to get everything I need."

"How long?"

"A few orns."

"Orns? That's too long."

"Are you slagging me? Do you wanna get caught?"

Scatterblade vented. "This planet completes thirteen orbital cycles in an orn."

"Are you serious? No wonder everyone on this planet is crazy."

"What makes you say that?" His tanks churned.

Blindside shrugged. "There's this one guy keeps bugging Lockdown about some kind of seed. From what I gather, it's supposed to make more transmetal."

The mech's systems froze, and he held Silverdust closer to his spark. "This is Lockdown's ship?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

Dread crept through him. "We need to get out of here."

"Hang on to your turbos. Recharge, and leave it to me."

Scatterblade reached for his femme offering warmth and confidence despite the fears that joined the dread in his spark.

Illusory slowly came online, anger and fear swarming over her causing some systems to boot faster than they should while others were registering problems with her boot sequence.

'Silverdust!' She tried calling her sparkling, but her vocalizers were one system not booting correctly.

Scatterblade stiffened as she came to awareness, her emotions slamming into him. 'Lu, I'm over here.' He went over to the door and tried to see down the hall and into the femme's cell.

'Where?!' She struggled to get to her feet, falling a few times with her need to move faster than her systems were stabilizing. 'Where's Silver? What happened?' Her panic was quickly driving her anger into a frenzy.

The panic welled in his spark. 'Lu, please, focus. It's gonna be okay. I've got her. We're on a ship. Focus on me, okay?'

'A ship?' Hearing her sparkling was with her mate did help quite a bit and the femme eventually got everything going how it should have been running. "Who's ship?" She asked finally.

"Do you really want to know?"

She vented miserably. "No," she admitted. "I am sure it will not help knowing. How is Silverdust? "

"Is she pretty? I can't see," Blindside chimed in.

Scatterblade looked back to the mech, an exasperated look on his face. "Shut up."

Blindside grinned and shook his head with a laugh.

"In recharge," he said getting back to the topic.

"Good." She vented again trying to soothe herself. The persistent ache in her processor creeping back on her. "Who is that?" She asked of the second voice she heard drifting through the halls.

"An old... friend," Scatterblade said reluctantly.

"Friend?" The femme asked suspiciously.

'He's going to help us.' _The less I get into it; the better_ , seemed to be the underlying message.

'Fine,' the femme agreed, her trust in her mate filling the doubts in her tone. "There is a plan then?"

"Recharge, refuel and leave it to me," Blindside said, his cheekiness practically registered on their sensors.

"Recharge? Here? Right."

"I don't know what's been going on down there. When was the last time either of you had energon? Like, real, energon? Get your strength back," the pirate said.

'That's a good point,' Scatterblade nudged her.

'How do we know it is safe? What if it is poisoned?' Illusory paced inside her small cell trying to keep her unreasonable levels of panic and mistrust under control.

'When Swindle took us in, he didn't take us as prisoners. We're cargo to sell,' he said anger flaring across the words.

"Cargo!" The femme shouted indignantly.

Blindside laughed. "She put two and two together?"

Scatterblade groaned.

"I will not be...I won't let..." she vented angrily. "This cannot be happening!"

"Hey, tell her to keep it down."

Scatterblade tried pushing through her flow of anger. 'Lu, it's okay. We aren't going to be here long.'

She made herself stand still but inside was a raging storm of doubt, fear, and anger. 'Are you sure?' She asked nervously.

'I am,' he promised. 'As much I disapprove of his methods, Blindside is good at what he does.'

'Blindside?' She settled on the floor with her back pressed against a wall. 'Tell me about him.'

Scatterblade vented and shifted Silverdust in his arms. 'He was a real good friend, practically from the Well. We were both in construction before the war. Then the recruitment came. He started paying more attention to Megatron's tune but stayed with me because...I thought it was because he trusted me, we were practically brothers. But then he split. Next time I saw him, he was on the other end of my blade. I thought I'd offlined him... apparently not.' Confusion, relief, and excitement flooded him, and he tried to reign it all in, organize it and hide the sting of betrayal he remembered. 'He's arrogant, full of himself, a slagging good fighter...and at one point I trusted him with my life.'

'And now?' She asked uncertainly.

'I really want to again. With the situation as it is, I'm inclined to trust him.'

'If you trust him, I will try to as well.'

Scatterblade vented this time in an effort to relax.

"Seriously, though, is she pretty?" Blindside asked quietly.

Scatterblade groaned.

"Come see for yourself," she challenged the other mech, a warning bite to her tone.

The pirate chuckled, "Would if I could..."

"Hey!" Scatterblade held up a hand. _'What are you doing_?' clear in his death glare.

Blindside only laughed.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	16. Chapter 16

~*~ Chapter Sixteen ~*~

Day 310

Rex

Rex had acted as a lifeless drone as he was driven from the hospital to his prison, responding exactly as he was told and not resisting in the least. What good would it have done anyway? He was dead and as far as he could guess, so was Charlie and all of the others. There was just the time between now and then and not much of that.

The guards certainly acted as though they thought he was going to fight them every step of the way, grabbing him roughly and shoving him around; one even went so far as to claim he had made a move to fight back and punched him several times. Rex just didn't care and took it as punishment for not protecting Charlie better, for not protecting his friends better.

Misery sat on him for three days, draining him of all will to live. Officers came and went, asking questions and accusing him of things he hardly bothered to hear. The list of his crimes grew and grew until it seemed nothing but death would suit him. Still, he brooded silently on all that he felt guilty of – and he appeared to come to terms with their punishments as fitting.

Come the sunset of the third day, something that sounded suspiciously like Charlie's voice started screaming at him from the back of his mind that he had better live or she was going to kill him herself. Time – he realized suddenly – was all they had left, and he had already wasted too much sulking like a new recruit over his first haircut.

He started paying attention to the guards – who now barely regarded him as living after his three-day zombie impression – and their rotations. It wouldn't take much to get past them; he also realized with a mix of glee and sheer disappointment, so long as he could figure out how to open the door.

One guard was a little too lax, and Rex soon found himself in possession of a passcard that would get him through checkpoints easily enough. Now he just needed a disguise or a distraction.

He waited another two days thinking over his current dilemma, wondering just how he was going to cause a distraction big enough to get him out of his solitary confinement. The answer was provided to him in the form of the alarms blaring to life throughout the facility.

Rex only hesitated for a minute before he pulled the passcard from its hiding place and let himself free.

He was able to scramble through three checkpoints unquestioned before he had to duck into an empty cell and act as a less high-threat prisoner while a large troop of SWAT guards swarmed past. He heard words that brought both hope and fear to his heart – _'the robots are attacking_.'

When the guards had passed, he slipped from the cell and headed towards the exit, hoping he would reach it before someone realized just how out of place he was – and before any of the 'bots were harmed. A small part of his brain wondered why he was more concerned with one of them getting hurt when weighted against the high likelihood that many of the humans would be killed, but a larger part of him just didn't care. Those bots were his friends, _his unit,_ and he would do anything for them.

Just as he thought he was free and clear, Rex found himself slammed hard against a wall, a gun pressed against his head and a SWAT shield edge pressed uncomfortably into his chest.

"This is your fault, you piece of shit!" The man holding him was clearly beyond rage. "You brought them here, but you know what? You just brought them to their death! I'm going to kill you; then we're going to kill them!" The gun slammed into his head a few times before he heard the impossibly soft sound of the trigger being pulled back.

The only thought on his mind was Charlie. He had acted as though he thought he would never see her again, and he had believed it before – now, he knew it was true, and the pain in his chest was far worse than the pounding in his head or the cracking of his ribs. "Charlie..." he groaned with what little breath he could gasp past the crushing pressure on his chest.

When he became aware again, Rex was beyond confused. He hurt bad enough for him not to think it had all just been a horrible dream, but he was pretty certain he should have been dead, yet he was moving. Albeit mostly being dragged, but his legs tried hard to keep up the pace.

"Hang on there soldier; we're almost outta here."

"Vance?"

"Ah, good, you're not completely senseless after all! Come on; Prowl's waiting to get us out of here."

"Who else?" Rex struggled to support himself but was unable to hold himself steady without Vance's support. At least they were moving faster now.

"Blurr – he's the one causing the distraction. Guy's good at mayhem if you ask me. Last I heard, they reported ten 'bots attacking this base..." Vance laughed. "Idiots."

"What about everyone else? Charlie?"

"Can't say, you're our mission. Gotta get out of here before we can check back with the others."

"Right," Rex agreed, doing his best to help his friend carry him out. A few times he was sure he wasn't going to make it, blacking out and finding himself dragged along by the persistent man beside him. Vance never said a word, only helped support Rex when he was aware enough to move on his own and carrying on when he wasn't.

It was during one of his blackouts that they must have finally escaped the prison and met up with their get-away car. Rex woke sprawled in the back seat, seatbelts holding him securely – though painfully – safe while the car sped away making impossible turns and daring to travel where no other vehicle could.

"Hey buddy," Vance said from the passenger's seat, holding on with white knuckles to the side of the seat. "How you feeling?"

In answer, Rex coughed wetly, blood staining his lips.

"Shit," he reached back as best he could in the crazy G-force of the speeding vehicle. "We need a doctor!"

That was the last thing Rex remembered as darkness overtook him once more.

Blindside was quiet for some time. Scatterblade grew more and more worried. Silverdust was still in recharge, and the promised fuel still hadn't made an appearance.

Noise from down the hall made the mech jerk up, sweeping the little femme to his chassis and backing up to the wall. A whirring and chittering clamored down the corridor, and soon he spotted a strange drone as it came to the door of his cell. Two stalks with round eyeballs, not optics, fashioned like human eyes, jutted out from a crude 'body' with claw-like appendices, set mounted on treads. Two more continued down the hall. The little thing turned around and reversed between the bars and deposited two decent sized energon cubes.

As it rolled away Silverdust chirred curious at the little machine.

"You hungry?" Scatterblade managed to smile for her and picked up a cube to help her.

Illusory scrambled away from the drone, energon the last thing on her processor, especially when guards came rushing. She crouched, ready to defend herself as two guards rushed down the hall, followed quickly by three more.

"What's going on?" Speaking aloud hadn't been intentional, and Scatterblade was shushed for his efforts. He went back to the bars he shared with Blindside. "What is it?"

"Sh, I'm listening."

A good breem later, the mech vented. "Well, do you want the good news or the bad news?"

"Do you have to be an aft?" Scatterblade asked.

"Primus, you got touchy..." Blindside laughed, then grew serious. "Well, good news is your Prime's still kicking, bad news, he might not stay that way."

"What happened?"

"Ambush. Mortal shots but he got away. And apparently, that's the humans' fault."

"What does that mean for us?" Illusory all but growled, upset that she had believed the Prime would have been strong enough to survive. It looked as though none of them would get out still functioning.

"It means we have more time to get out of here before Lowdown jettisons off."

Illusory vented, slumping against the wall. "Small favors," she grumbled. She did try to see down the hall to her mate and sparkling, only further frustrated by her inability to see them.

"We knew the humans were after us. I didn't realize he was, too." Scatterblade vented turning his focus back to Silverdust. Illusory was right. It didn't exactly help them knowing this.

"So, I have a theory."

The frontliner vented once more. Blindside had always liked the sound of his own vocalizer.

"This part of the ship can break off. If I can find the cockpit, we'd be out of here in no time."

"Yeah, well, next time you get time to stretch your legs, you let us know if you find it."

"I will," he said with a smile.

'If I can get a line in, I should be able to hack the systems,' Illusory told her mate, though she didn't seem sure of it.

'Humor me as I humor him. Don't try anything until you've gotten your strength back.'

She vented softly but agreed. 'For now.'

Charlie slept, it was the only thing that she wanted to do. To sleep this whole nightmare away and wake up to Scatterblade and Illusory and Silverdust in the basement. It felt like a lifetime ago. It had already been, what? almost a year ago that they had been pushed from their home? Now they were scattered to the winds.

Charlie didn't hear the first knock at her door. She woke to the door opening and Tanya standing at the foot of her bed. "Get up. You have a visitor."

The redhead sat up, her right arm buckling some. Whatever that agent had done a few days before had messed with its integrity, leaving it structurally weak.

Tanya helped the woman stand and guided her out. A bald man with large glasses dressed in a suit smiled at her politely but not with kindness.

"Hello, Miss Hall. I've heard you have a fascinating piece of hardware. May I see it?" He asked it like it was a formality; like he couldn't imagine she would say no.

Charlie frowned and glared. "It's just a prosthetic."

"And that technology could greatly benefit the world. That's what happens here at my company."

Charlie smirked feeling mean-spirited, "Is that all you do?"

The man cleared his throat but maintained his smile. "I would just like a few of my techs to look it over. See if we can help repair yours so that we can begin production."

"You always use people like you use 'bots?" Her smile fell.

So did his. "Young lady, we're advancing our race by light years. You cannot tell me you're not excited after spending so much time with them."

"What are they to you?" Her stomach twisted as she eased down onto a chair, "Your next paycheck? These are lives that you're destroying. Do you get that? They're my friends, my family..."

"They're robots. Metal to be shaped and used for our benefit," he said smoothly. "So, I'll take this as a 'no'?" He already had his answer, and he didn't wait for her to say it. He nodded to his entourage and left. Tanya was the last the leave.

Charlie flexed her hands, squeezing the metal digits together. Her motor skill with that hand wasn't gone at least, thank goodness. She stood and tried to ease the anger in her chest breathing slowly. This was ridiculous. Why hadn't they just killed her? They weren't afraid of ending lives. Rex's still hung in the air. She shivered trying to force the negativity from her body. The time for moping and crying was over.

She needed a plan. A distraction, a hostage maybe... she shuddered again. It was bad enough that she felt like she had to keep from hurting these people. They were just as intent on killing her.

After some careful - well, crazy - thoughts, Charlie stood by the bedroom door, tense and ready to spring. The minute someone poked their head through the door, she would slam it on them.

Tanya or Devin came at the same time every day to give her food, and when she heard the main door open, she held her breath. The door to her room opened, and Charlie rammed into it. A curse and stumbling followed. Charlie flung open the door and bolted - just to run straight into two strong arms.

Devin climbed to his feet and shook off the pain that shot through his arm. The other agent wrenched the redhead's left arm up behind her back and cuffed it to her right. She screamed, kicked and bit as they maneuvered her out the door. Without explanation or courtesy, they led her away from the penthouse and down the elevator. As they traveled down, her mind cleared for an instant before she hung limply between them. The urn. They hadn't taken it. The men wouldn't look her in the eye. Something was very wrong.

They guided her to yet another car, and she trembled, her gaze fixed on the building they were leaving behind. What had she been thinking? Why hadn't she grabbed it?

::When, do you suppose, is the 'right moment'?:: Knockout asked sarcastically as he and Hound watched Charlie hauled away yet again.

::We don't want to cause any more harm than we have to,:: Hound chastised gently as he moved parallel to the car taking Charlie. They were well out of sight of the humans, but able to track them.

::Autobots!:: Knockout huffed impatiently. ::After everything, they have done to us, and you're worried about harming them? We should squash every one of them!::

::That doesn't sound very medic like KO.::

::It is for a Decepticon.::

They didn't seem to be in that big of a hurry, wherever they were going. Charlie shook as panic spread through her. Devin sat beside her and secured her now front bound hands to the handle above the door. She had thought about how easy it would be just to open the door and roll out. Apparently, he had read her mind.

"Where am I going?" She finally asked.

No answer. They hadn't offered before, and the silence continued.

"You could have at least laid me with my son." She felt it, bitter on her tongue, but her fight had evaporated.

::Here we go,:: Hound announced,:: stage one.::

::Finally!:: Knockout sped forward going several blocks ahead of the car carrying Charlie. His engine roared loudly as he cut through traffic rudely, making a huge scene with his sporty alt mode.

Hound moved in closer, projecting a hologram ahead of the target vehicle of a huge wreck, creating it in motion with traffic causing other cars to veer away dramatically.

"We've got activity!" The shout made Charlie jump, and Devin slammed her into the door.

She looked out the window and panicked. Wrecks were terrifying enough, but when for an instant you see familiarity, the panic deepens. She screamed, "No!"

The driver swerved, yammering into a walkie, narrating the scene before them. The car turned down a side street and blasted back onto the main road headed to a rail depot.

Two dark cars roared after Knockout's shiny red aft.

::Stage two!:: Knockout cheered as he picked up speed, guiding his pursuers amok through traffic, causing more jams and pile-ups than were strictly necessary.

::Confirmed,:: Hound agreed, moving on behind the car hauling Charlie, creating the image of yet another wreck in front of them as Knockout sped by.

The driver yelled frantically for back-up and for said back-up to do their damn job. Guns emerged from the cars, and they opened fire on Knockout. They hadn't seen Hound, and the driver slammed on his brakes, pulling onto yet another street.

Knockout raged loudly about the guns but just poured on more speed. ::Catch me if you can flesh bags!::

As the car swerved, Hound accelerated, pinning the vehicle between his bulk and a rather worn down looking building. He kept just enough pressure to keep them pinned without crushing the car, then projected a very identifiable image of Jazz sliding by out of control to crash a few feet away. Inside he created an image of an unconscious driver sprawled over his dash.

The driver grew excited and demanded the chase change course and the two cars spun around. Devin began firing at the large vehicle still leaning on Charlie. Her door was blocked from opening, the building scrapped on it painfully as they continued forward.

::Tag!:: Knockout called out, slowing as his pursuers turned away.

Hound continued to push into the car until it began to buckle from his weight, bending axles and making it useless. ::Going!:: He reversed away from the car, heading back around the corner where he created yet another hologram of himself turning and speeding off while his real form sat hidden behind a semi that had jack-knifed in all the chaos.

Devin shouted at the driver to calm down before he got shot. "Get LaVonn back here, now!"

The black man kicked open the door firing at Hound's retreating form. "I've got her. After him!" The two cars spun to a stop. One picked up the previous car's driver and followed Hound's projection. The other stayed, and Devin climbed back into the car to collect Charlie. She kicked at him heel to head as much as she could, her bare feet not doing too badly at discouraging the man. Determined, Devin grabbed her ankle and twisted shoving her back to the seat. She cried out as the leg buckled and tingling pain shot through it. Devin fumbled with the keys and unlocked the cuff binding Charlie then dragged her from the car. Spectators, people from the crashes or unfortunate pedestrians gathered around to see what was going on. The dark car's driver shouted at them to move.

The ominous squeal of tires was the only warning as Knockout flew through the hologram of the wreck in front of them, his aim precision as he slammed into the man holding Charlie without striking her.

::Knockout, no!:: Hound was appalled by the gruesome scene as the body flew into the throngs of people causing more chaos and screaming.

Knockout stopped before he hit anyone else, but only just.

Charlie spun as Devin's grip released and she fell, her bound wrists flailing for purchase. More hands found her and pulled her toward the open doors of the car. She pulled back, her mind set on falling toward Knockout. Dying by a friend seemed a Hell of a lot better than this.

Knockout opened his door, speeding backward just fast enough to snatch Charlie from the other man, flinging her inside as he spun around and took off.

::Got her, games all yours now, pal!:: as he slid through the illusion of demolished vehicles he scanned a rather plain black sedan and merged into traffic calmly.

::We are going to talk about your methods,:: Hound growled as he dropped all his holograms and sped off in the opposite direction.

::I think I restrained myself rather well. I am a Decepticon after all.::

Charlie sat wide eyed and breathing heavily, raspy whimpering shaking through her. It was a few minutes later that her brain caught up with her. "Kn-knockout?"

"In the metal. I would ask how you're doing, but I'm pretty sure I can guess. Anything life threatening?"

"You..." her shaking intensified and her chest tightened. She curled up in the seat, clinging to it with both hands.

"That's probably a fair judgment. Don't worry; you're with us again. Can't promise you're safe, but you're free at least. We'll meet up with the others soon enough." He kept his pace steady, keeping one scanner on Hound. For a mech as large as he was, he sure had some rather impressive stealth skills. The way things were looking Hound was going to be at the meeting point long before he would.

It took Charlie fifteen minutes to calm down and finally lose the white-knuckled grip. She looked up and to the steering wheel. It seemed the only appropriate place to look. "You came after me." Her tone sounded awed, confused and hurt.

"Of course. Nobody steals from me and gets away with it...and, well, you didn't think the Autobots would abandon you, did you?"

Charlie shook her head like she didn't hear him. "You should have gone after Rex. I'm gone! They're going to kill him..."

"They went after him too. That's one thing I do have to admire about these guys; they multitask well. And before you ask, yes, they are looking for the little familial unit too."

She took a breath to argue, to rage about his importance, about how he needed to live, but she stopped, taking a moment to process all the information. "God, I hope Silver's okay..."

Knockout remained silent at that point. His opinion of the situation was far from positive, and clearly, Charlie had had too much already. "Why don't you rest?"

The redhead gave a small nod, but her face grew irritated. "No." She turned, tucked her knees under her cuffed wrists and rested her chin there.

"No?" Knockout was shocked. "Why not?"

Tremors shook her every few seconds. "I can't. If I do, I'll wake up back with them..."

"Hmm. Wouldn't that be demoralizing? Well, have it your way. It's going to be a while." Knockout drove on. He monitored Charlie's vitals compared to what he knew they should be. They were off, but he hardly knew what to do about it. Shock, he concluded.

She knew she was all talk. She just really didn't want to admit it. Not now. After about two hours, her vision blurred and her head nodded. Three hours in she was sound asleep.

Knockout had been right in assuming Hound would be at their destination before he was. The mech was waiting, looking rather displeased.

"Why did you do that?" He asked in a rather sullen tone. There was no anger, just sorrow.

"Short answer? Deception."

"You haven't been a Decepticon for a long time now, Knockout. There are no Autobots and Decepticons, remember?"

"Fine. Because he would have done it to any of us if given a chance." His engine rumbled a little with annoyance. "Keep it down; the human femme is sleeping."

Charlie stayed that way for quite some time, only moving to get comfortable. She felt safe for the first time since she had been dropped and her body was taking full advantage of the rest.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	17. Chapter 17

~*~ Chapter Seventeen ~*~

Day 313

The mechs sat in silence while they waited for night to come and everything to settle as much as it would before they slipped from their hiding place.

::I hope the others have been successful,:: Hound said without preamble.

::Whatever they've done, I'm sure it's better than not doing anything at all.::

::Right,:: Hound agreed.

Charlie jerked up, having slipped further in her seat. The jarring motion woke her and she just sat, trying to clear her eyes and steady herself. The cuffs strained against her left wrist biting into the skin. "Ow.." she mumbled.

"Welcome back," Knockout greeted with unmistakably put on cheer. "How's my favorite flesh bag?"

She flinched. "Knockout? What's going on?" She rubbed her face, and when she saw the handcuffs, she panicked.

"Keep calm," he encouraged, "we took you back. Think for a bit, it'll come back to you. Well, unless you've been brain damaged, then there isn't much I can do for you."

Charlie tugged at the metal. "Please, get these off," she begged. Her mind raced, but as she sat there, her heart slowed. She was safe. She was home. Close to it, at least.

The medic did some minor transformations, bringing one of his cutting tools to the interior where he could free Charlie from the metal loops.

"Where have you been?" She wasn't angry. She felt she should be, but she didn't have it in her.

"Looking for you, trying to get to you with, and I quote, 'as few casualties as possible.' Not the way I would have done it, but I was out voted."

"There was no need to deactivate them." Hound interjected. "Most of them were under orders. You can't blame them for that."

Charlie turned to Hound, eyes hard and dark. "And they're prepared to deactivate you under said orders. Hound, there's no way around it this time..." her voice rasped, and she cleared her throat.

Hound vented softly, well used to others that just didn't see things the way he did. "I know," there seemed to be endless patience in his voice, "but we don't have to be the same."

"Why aren't you a neutral? " Knockout goaded. "War isn't the place for your kind of processing."

"Travel, " the mech admitted easily.

Knockout was completely thrown for a loop and had nothing to say in return.

Charlie shrugged. "Yeah. Are the others okay? Myra, Vance, Kevin, Billy?"

"Last we saw them they were fine." Knockout said seeming unconcerned.

"Please, at least act like you care," she snapped and rubbed her face.

Knockout gave a half chuckle. "If I didn't care, I wouldn't be here. "

The woman leaned back in the seat. Her stomach growled menacingly.

"Sounds like you need fuel."

"We can stop in the next town; it's rather small. I can use my holo form," Hound offered.

"Good plan. Mine is kinda worthless right now," she lifted her right hand, wiggled it then dropped it.

"We can fix that later," Knockout offered.

Charlie fiddled with her fingers lost in thought. She twirled a ring on her left hand. "How did we get here? We had a home...I can't believe he's gone..."

"It's going to be okay," Hound tried to encourage her.

"Everyone around us is being hunted. You guys are dying like flies!"

"It won't always be bad," Hound continued.

"Ugh, perpetual optimists," Knockout chided. "What he means to say is we'll do what we have to, and we will live. Mostly."

"That's not helping, Knockout." Hound scolded.

"I seriously doubt she wants to hear a bunch of fluffy lies either," the now-black mech countered.

Charlie sighed and slumped again. "Actually, I could use a little fluff. So, we just wait for the others to show up?" She asked forcing her voice to sound cheery, her face as downcast as she had ever been.

"Pretty much." Knockout said.

"They will contact me when they're on their way. Have to get to a high spot first."

"Let's get to it then." She nodded, eager to be moving again.

They arrived at their destination after a day of travel, only stopping long enough to get provisions for Charlie. Hound set himself high on a cliff overlooking steep hills and dark trees. It only took a few hours before he came back. "Prowl's team is on their way back," he reported. "Still no luck on Jazz's end."

Charlie sat on the ground leaning against a tree. "This waiting is fraying on my nerves... Just thinking about Attinger's men out there... they knew you would come after me. That's probably why they moved me. Oh, shit! What if I have a tracker on me!" She jumped to her feet and began smacking her clothes as if ants were swarming her.

"We scanned you already," Knockout assured her. "All bugs are gone. Promise."

"We won't be waiting too long. Once Prowl and his team arrive he wants to find a safe place where we can lay low until we get word from Jazz." Hound made himself comfortable, looking absolutely at peace in the natural setting.

"I love that plan. I want to crawl into a hole." Charlie shook her head and sighed. "Knock it off," she muttered to herself. _'Knockout said it himself; a perpetual optimist. That's supposed to be your job'_. She smiled though it was feeble. _'Fake it till ya make it,'_ she reminded herself.

"They're here," Hound announced a few hours later.

Two vehicles, one the dark color of the local state patrol, the other deep maroon and sleek approached them through the trees. In the patrol car sat an unknown man. The expression on his face was somewhere between utterly confounded and a little pissed. He sat half turned in the passenger's seat, looking over his shoulder to the back seat.

Charlie scrambled to her feet, eyes searching for familiarity. The cars weren't, and she had to shove down panic when she saw the strange passenger. Her heart sank. No Scatterblade, Illusory, or Silverdust. No Rex...

Vance jumped from the maroon car, a half smile on his face as though his expressions were warring for control between relief, grief, concern and general annoyance. "Charlie, it's good to see you!" He hesitated only a moment before opening his arms in an offering.

She bolted, half crying and laughing. "Vance! You're okay!"

"Course," he said good-naturedly. "You're in one piece I see. How are you holding up?"

"Vance, I was at their headquarters. I-" she faltered and took a deep breath, "I think I sold them out..."

"What do you mean?" His voice remained friendly but took on a firm tone.

"I was...drugged? Interrogated? They took the comm link from my arm. I don't remember everything I said..." her throat closed on tears.

"Oh. Well...it's okay, Charlie. Don't worry about it too much. We'll work it out."

"Excuse me, but is this where you plan to...I don't know, hide out? Because if so I am going to need some things for my patient. " The unknown man was hanging out of the window of the patrol car.

"Patient? Who-?" Charlie peered at the man warily.

Vance held her a little firmer to stop her from running off. "Before you freak out, he's hurt, but he'll be okay. We found Rex. That guy is Dr. Shaffer; he's been helping us."

"Rex..." her breath hitched, and her knees gave out.

"Woah!" Vance held her up. "Come on; he'll want to know you're okay." He lead her to the back of the patrol car, whose door opened at their approach.

Rex lay inside, as flat on his back as possible with his eyes closed. Dark marks on his face and arms showed the kind of care he had been given in captivity; his breathing was shallow but even.

A cry burst from Charlie as she climbed into the car and brushed his hair with her fingers.

Looking to see who was touching him, Rex took the affections as well as he could, holding her as tight as he could manage, fighting off his own tears. He had been so sure he would never see her again.

"Not to interrupt this lovely reunion," Dr. Shaffer's voice broke in firmly but not unkind, "but he should really not be moving. He has a few broken ribs; we don't want them puncturing his lungs."

Rex was reluctant to let go even with the warning.

Charlie sat up, pulling away fearful she had already done it, though a hand still stayed in his. Tears still fell freely down her face, but she tried to mask it. "Tell me how I can help." She said to Dr. Shaffer.

"Well," the doctor shifted in his seat, "we need to get him somewhere stable that isn't moving a hundred miles an hour..."

"I traveled within a safe range for the condition you described," Prowl stated shortly.

"And it would probably help my personal state of mind if the cars would quit talking."

Despite their situation and all that had happened, Vance laughed.

Rex smiled, groaning a little in place of a similar laugh.

"I fail to see the humor in all this," Prowl stated.

"You and me both," Dr. Shaffer agreed.

Charlie tried to laugh, but the tightness of her throat made her cough. She caught her breath back. "Let's get somewhere safe. Has anyone heard from Kevin? He might have an idea."

"None yet. Haven't really had a chance. I sent him a message a few days ago, telling him not to go back."

"Let's find somewhere safe," she said. Her mind raced with all the things she wanted to say, but she knew Rex needed rest and she needed some privacy.

"There are some abandoned structures in the canyon a few miles away. They should do well enough." Hound suggested as he transformed into a large SUV and pointed his wheels in the right direction.

Charlie pulled her legs into the car and helped get Rex comfortable.

Vance looked in on the couple, sorrow piercing his heart to see their pain. "At least they have each other, " he mumbled before turning back to the sleek maroon car. "Blurr, ready?"

"I'm always ready!" The mech revved his engine good-naturedly.

Charlie spent the time with Rex's hand firmly in hers. She never wanted to let go again.

Rex went in and out of consciousness through the whole trip. Every time he saw Charlie, he smiled and seemed to breathe easier. Hound led the others while Blurr rushed ahead to keep a look out for any of their hunters. Prowl followed right behind Hound with Knockout bringing up the rear.

"I don't suppose you might want to clue me in to what all this business is," Dr. Shaffer asked Charlie after some time. "Everyone else is either a talking car, unable, or unwilling to explain."

The woman chuckled. "You could ask. The 'cars' are usually good conversation. Prowl's probably the best one to talk to. Course that's if you're okay listening to encyclopedic jargon."

The man looked doubtfully around him. "I don't think I'm ready for that." He smiled wearily. "It's been strange enough these few days as it is."

She laughed and shook her head. "Probably not. You wouldn't like what I said either. Honestly, the less you know is safest for you."

"That's negotiable." Still, he didn't press for more. Instead, he busied himself with making a list of things he needed.

They reached the place Hound had described: old ruins carved into the sides of cliffs running through a narrow canyon.

It took some doing to get Rex settled. He tried to help as much as he could but would become winded quickly, and Dr. Shaffer would scold him to relax and let the others do the work. Charlie helped where she could, careful to only move Rex when the doctor advised. After they had him set, Vance and Blurr set out to gather the things Dr. Shaffer had requested. Including prescriptions written for a false name that could be filled without giving the group away.

"You know," he said after all was done until Blurr and Vance returned, "I keep thinking that I should feel this is all wrong. But I don't."

"Really? You don't feel like you're in a science fiction?" Charlie tried to joke once more.

"I do, actually! " He laughed, "But like it's the hero's story...I know that's pretty weird. "

When she smiled, it was sad. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

"Well, you know, at first I was sure that this was going to be a horrible hostage situation, you know where someone got caught doing something they shouldn't so that's why they kidnapped me. But after a while, I started putting it all together. Neither of these guys," he waved to where Rex was resting again, "act like bad guys, and they only asked for help. Who was I to refuse? Then there are the talking cars...that's strange, but they're rather nice too...at least I think so." His amusement faded as he considered Charlie, and thought of the other people he had met on this wild ride. "You guys are in trouble, aren't you? Did you do something terrible?"

She sighed. "We are in trouble, but we didn't do anything." Then she thought of the ambush in the cave. "Okay, we did, but we were only defending ourselves." Her face twisted with pain. "We've been running for close to a year. We just want to go home."

"A year?" There was a glint of recognition in his eyes, then fear. "You're not connected with the Chicago event are you?"

"What if we are?" She grew defensive. "We just need your help. When it's done, you can go."

"I..." he paused looking very confused. "I trust my gut on all this, but if you were a part of that, I don't want any connection to it. I'm sorry but even a man sworn to heal has to draw the line somewhere."

Charlie's face grew hard. She wanted so badly to rage at him, tell him the truth in all its shades, but Rex needed the medical care. She hated to lie. She took a breath, and her face grew tired, defeated.

"Please, help us stabilize him. That's all we need."

Dr. Shaffer sat quietly for a long time studying nothing in particular. Then he sighed heavily. "Of course I will. I can't just leave him like that."

She took a shuddering breath. "Thank you. They really are amazing," she added.

"So, I guess the talking cars aren't really talking cars, are they?"

"They're good people," she said firmly.

"I didn't say they weren't. I hardly know them, it's not like I can have an honest opinion for myself."

She ducked her head apologetically. "They're more like us than others care to admit. They have a sense of family, friendship, loyalty. They're not just machines."

"Huh," he sounded honestly amused. "Family?"

She frowned. "When your species is scattered to the stars, anyone that shares your values is family."

"Oh, okay. Like brothers in arms kinda thing? Makes sense."

"Yeah. I know a few of them really well. They are family to me."

He nodded with understanding. "I'm going to say this because I need to, please don't be offended. You know you could tell me if you were in trouble; here against your will or something like that. I will do what I can to help."

Charlie gave a tired sigh but chuckled. "Like I said, they're my family. If I were running from them, I wouldn't be here."

"Okay." He sighed again as if with relief. "I don't know what it is about all this, but I believe you."

"Thank you." She stroked Rex's head softly.

The doctor got up and left the couple for now, taking the time to see the view from where they were. It was amazing. He caught his breath a little as he saw three large robots standing around talking to each other. They were so big! The news reports flashed through his head about Chicago and all the horrible things that had happened there, all the demands to report any robot activity. Was he doing the right thing here?

Charlie watched him go, wary of the man's concerns. She shook it off and curled up next to Rex on the stone floor. "How are you feeling?" She whispered, hoping not to wake him but unable to keep from asking.

He grunted uncomfortably, letting her know he was awake, but not entirely.

She grabbed his hand and brought it to her lips. "I was so scared that they'd killed you. I'm so happy you're alive."

"I was sure we'd never see each other again," he spoke softly but didn't seem to struggle to do so. "Thought...thought all kinds of bad things." He stared into her eyes as though he could fall into their depths and never be afraid again.

Her eyes clouded with tears. "Rex, they killed Ratchet."

He gasped with shock, then cringed with pain. "No..." was all he could manage between the physical and emotional pains.

"I'm sorry! I should've waited! Honey, are you okay?" She gently cupped his face in her hands.

"No," he admitted after he could breathe again, "but, I will be. We will be."

"Yeah. Rest. I'll be right here," Charlie kissed his forehead.

He pulled her closer to him. A few moments later his body relaxed as sleep took over again.

She stroked his head and peered over the edge at the others below.

Hound and Prowl seemed to be discussing something that could have been urgent if judged by the way the patrol car mech's doorwings stood up. However, it could be judged as a leisurely discussion about the weather if Hound's body language were the indicator. A few feet away Knockout stood seemingly judging the whole conversation by said frame holdings of the other two, and he was clearly amused.

Charlie shook her head and rested an arm under her head.

Vance had returned late that night with Dr. Shaffer's list of things along with groceries and some clean clothes for the three of them. Blurr barely remained long enough to unload their supplies before he raced off again to set up patrol.

Vance started a small fire and started cooking just as the sun came over the horizon.

Charlie stirred when the light hit her face. She groaned and rolled away from it before rising from the floor. "Is that food?" She asked as she sniffed the air.

"Sure is. Real stuff too." Vance smiled as he scooped some of the breakfast stuff onto a plate and held it out to her. "Figured we could all use something a little normal. Got clothes too, over there," he pointed to a neat stack of bags. "Not much but clean and without stains."

"Oh, Vance, you're a beautiful human being," she took the plate and brought it to Rex. She held it near him, fanning the steam toward his face.

"I must have died in my sleep," he mumbled, "I see an angel with hot bacon kneeling beside me."

"If you're dead, I call dibs on your bacon." Vance teased as he served up another plate and brought it to the pair.

"Those, my friend, are fighting words."

Charlie blushed fiercely, her eyes tearing again. She handed off the plate and took her own from Vance.

"Oh! Good!" Dr. Shaffer called as he came in, looking as though he had been awake well before the sun and was prepared to face the day anew. "Seems like that pain medication is working well."

Rex nodded, preparing to sit up.

"Not all the way. Give those ribs time to start knitting together. Here," he pulled a wedge shaped cushion from the stash of things Vance had brought back. "You'll be able to eat and drink normally without putting too much pressure on your ribs."

Rex was made comfortable, and his appetite showed now that he wasn't in constant pain. Vance made sure the doctor was fed before making his own meal and sitting against the wall.

Silence fell over the small group.

The first few moments they all just savored the comforts they had all taken advantage of. Then the tone went dark. Charlie stressed over all she had seen and what she may have said. If she caused more death, she would never be able to forgive herself.

Rex saw the moment peaceful enjoyment changed to internal struggles with her and reached out to Charlie. "Try not to think about it," he murmured to her. "It's hard enough moving forward without dwelling on the past." It was soldier's psychology, but still applicable in their current situation. "As long as we keep going, we win."

Dr. Shaffer stared at the couple, watching the exchange with some of his own anguish. Surely these were not terrorists. They were kind, afraid, and hurt. They had no big plans, no big weapons...well, robots, but he wasn't counting them, and each had only expressed a desire for home and comfort. That wasn't what he pictured out of someone set to betray their country or world.

"I'll keep him still," Charlie grinned, assumed he was concerned about Rex's healing.

"That sounds like a challenge," Rex teased.

"No horseplay!" Dr. Shaffer warned seriously. "Other than that, you should be okay."

"So...you leaving us Doc?" Vance asked a little too seriously.

"Well, you did say you would let me go when I was done...unless you've changed your mind?" For a moment he reconsidered his assessment that this could be a hostage situation.

"No, you're free to go," Vance promised. "I'll get one of the guys to take you somewhere safe." Vance shoved off the wall and headed toward the Cybertronians, a dark look on his face.

"Um..." Dr. Shaffer looked nervous.

"Thanks for everything, " Rex said before the man could work himself up too much. "He meant what he said, I promise. They'll make sure you can get home safely. "

"Then why did he look so...angry?"

"We'll have to move," Rex said as if it were no big deal.

"We're used to it. Just finding good places is getting a little harder," Charlie said.

"Why? This is a good place." The man looked clearly confused by the thought. "Not because I'm leaving, is it?"

Charlie shrugged a shoulder. "We're trying to find our friends, too."

"But, you need to rest, recover...surely you don't have to go immediately?" He paused as he heard his own words. "Oh. Oh, you can't trust me not to tell someone something I shouldn't. Even if I wouldn't mean to - which I wouldn't, of course." He sighed, shaking his head.

"You're right," Rex answered gently. "We don't blame you; it's just...well, that's how life is now."

"It's been a long year," Charlie sighed with a partial laugh.

"I guess so." Dr. Shaffer studied the weary couple before him, trying not to scrutinize openly. They were tired, hurt...he could only guess at the pain inside. They had lost friends; he could see that easily enough, more maybe.

"Maybe...I could stay a few more days, let you guys rest for a while. I don't have to rush back just yet. My clinic won't miss me too much."

"You really don't have to," Charlie said.

"No, but I want to. You all need the rest, and that is my priority - morally speaking. Besides, it's not so bad out here. I needed a vacation."

Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Dr. Shaffer smiled, happy with himself for his decision to help these people - who he insisted to himself could not be terrorists - and headed out to find Vance and let him know that there was no rush.

Charlie sat beside Rex and leaned against him, supporting herself with her arm, so she didn't hurt him.

Rex breathed in deeply, slowly, and then out. A part of him felt soothed by Charlie's closeness, while another part still anguished over who wasn't there. "Have you heard anything about the others?" He asked quietly. "Vance really hasn't told me much. Of course, I haven't been able to ask much until now anyway."

Charlie stiffened. "Not much. Jazz and his group are looking for Blade, Lu, and Silver. I'm so worried about them...if Attinger finds her..." her throat caught, and she bit back her panic.

"We'll find them first," he didn't sound as confident as he wanted to. "Or..." he added after he realized how lacking he sounded, "we will make him pay." That did sound real - mostly because he meant it from the very depths of his soul. He had quit seeing 'robots' with any of the 'bots they had come so close to, but when it came to the small family and the thought of what Attinger intended to do to them it made him sick. Silverdust was just a baby, and Illusory was a crazy overprotective mom. Scatterblade was the perfect counter to Illusory's almost insanity most of the time. "We will find them."

"I know," she said. 'I just hope it's in time,' she thought. Her uncertainty showed though she tried to hide it.

Rex hugged her close, wishing he could do better, but as he had told Dr. Shaffer: this is their life.

Charlie hummed at his touch and closed her eyes, letting the seconds drag on in her memory.

Outside Dr. Shaffer had reached Vance and the mechs and explained that he was staying a few more days. Hound expressed his appreciation, while Prowl immediately started planning for their eventual departure. Blurr quickly asked if anything else was needed before shooting out again for another patrol - the mech seemed unable to be still for long at all. Knockout mumbled something about Autobots and their strange ways but happily laid out in the sun to absorb some warmth while he could.

"I'll set out to look for a new place later this evening," Hound suggested to Prowl. The patrol-car mech agreed, and that seemed to end the conversation.

"Wow," Dr. Shaffer shook his head. "It's..."

"Strange?" Knockout suggested. "Weird? Out of this world?"

"All of that," the man agreed.

"Well," Knockout smiled, "can't blame you for being impressed."

Charlie spent much of her time tending to Rex. The tasks kept her focused, the blinders easing the memory of those days in Attibger's 'care.' She would catch herself worrying and force herself to smile. It almost pushed away images she wanted gone... almost.

The days passed by quickly until Hound declared he knew where they would go and Dr. Shaffer said he couldn't delay going back any longer. He promised he would do his best not to give them away - not that he suspected he would know where they were going or that anything he did say would get them in any more trouble, but his efforts were appreciated none the less. Blurr volunteered to take the man back to his home town and then meet with the others later.

"Thank you," Rex offered with profound gratitude before the man left.

"Call on me again, if you need me - though I hope you won't."

Charlie gave the man a hug. "Same here," she smiled. It wasn't her bright smile, that cheer was lost. The smile was forced and it didn't reach her eyes, though she tried. She never stopped trying.

Once everyone was loaded up, Blurr lead the way out. Hound didn't deviate for a while, but once he did, it was to go in the opposite direction of Blurr. Rex and Charlie rode with him since he had more space, Vance traveled with Prowl, and Knockout found himself driving between the two mechs. It wasn't because they didn't trust him, but because he was now the only known surviving Cybertronian medic and they couldn't afford to lose him too.

Charlie started to get frustrated with the silence. She almost asked for music but it wasn't in her. She hadn't sang since...Sideswipe.

Rex watched her, half in a dream - most likely do to the medications he had taken - but seemed fixed on her as though if he weren't looking she might disappear.

Charlie brushed her fingers along his face. "I missed you," she murmured. "I'm so sorry you're hurt." She felt the blame like an anchor around her neck.

"Better me than you," he said with a smile. It might not have been big or bright, but it was honest.

A grimace took her face and she had to force her head from shaking, no. "Every time he used you against me...I gave in." She felt disgusted with herself. She should have been stronger than that.

"Oh, my love," he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently. "It will be okay. A lot of bad things happened, but we're together now, and that's all that matters. None of us can say we would have done differently in your situation. After losing..." his word caught in his throat and it took a moment to gather himself. "After losing so much, you can't expect to have done better."

Charlie shook her head, "I should have... I should have." Tears streaked down her cheeks.

"It's okay," he held her against him and let her cry. She needed to let loose, he knew, he could only do his best to comfort her while she released the pent up agony. "I love you," he promised, "no matter what happened, or will happen, I will always love you."

"I love you, too." She caught her breath. "It hurts..."

"I know," he soothed.

"No..." she paused to get her gasping under control. "I've tried to stay positive. I've always been good at that. But it hurts to try anymore."

Rex was silent for a while. What could he say? Look on the bright side? Everything would be okay? Those were shallow at best. "We have to make do with what we have," he said finally. "I know it's hard; I don't expect you to be positive all the time. Just, let's make it to the next day, then the day after that, we'll see where we end up. Okay?"

She looked at him with a look of confusion mixed with pain, incredulously, even, as if he was telling her not to breathe. Then she relaxed and leaned on him. She had never known how badly she needed someone's permission _not_ to be cheerful or peppy. Relief settled on her. "I love you."

"I love you too." He was happy to just be with Charlie, her body close to his was better than medicines. Still, between her warmth, the rhythmic hum of Hound's engine and the medicine coursing through his systems, Rex was soon sound asleep.

Watching him rest did wonders of its own for Charlie. He was safe. The only stress she had was where they would go, and even then, it wasn't her job alone. They had each other, and they would find the others. No matter how long it took. They had spent this long just figuring it out. They proved they could do this and much more.

They drove on for a few days, Blurr joined them before they reached their destination.

Hound led them to a thickly wooded area on preserved land that restricted human interaction.

"We'll be mostly hidden at least," he offered.

Charlie smiled a little, "It'll be like camping. I can't remember the last time I went camping. And the foundry didn't count," she held up a finger, unable while riding to point it in Hound's face.

Hound chuckled. "Well, then this was overdue." The mechs helped clear out and camouflage an area large enough for them all, with basic shelters to keep the weather off of them.

Charlie helped Rex settle in. "I may not remember most of my knots, but I can find plants that won't poison me." Suddenly, she stopped talking. She shook her head.

"Its okay," he assured her. "Doing something will help you keep your mind off of things."

"You'll have to give me a little squeeze every time I start trying to prove myself," she chuckled softly.

"Always," he promised.

A smile tugged her cheeks. She stood and clapped, her arms locked and swinging widely. "I'll help finish up and be right back."

"I'll be here," he said a little sarcastically. It was starting to get to him that he couldn't move much, but he refused to complain about it.

Charlie wandered from solider to 'bot asking what she could help with.

The mechs had little for her to do, aside from helping dig debris from their armor from time to time - mostly Knockout - while Vance had her help with gathering wood for fires and water from a nearby brook. The chores were simple enough, but it was busy work that they all needed. No one wanted to sit idle too long, Blurr least of all. Hound spent most of his time in the foothills deeper in the forest, looking for a signal from the others.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	18. Chapter 18

~*~ Chapter Eighteen ~*~

Day 323

Scatterblade kept his little femme out of view whenever a guard came. It was normally every orbital cycle or so for rations. Blindside had been right. They weren't hurting for anything. After a few visits, the mech was already feeling tremendously better.

Illusory, however, did not settle down into the routine. It seemed that as more time passed with nothing happening, the more agitated she became. She hated that she couldn't see her mate or her sparkling, but worse was that she couldn't get to them if anything happened. Her processor was going wild with 'what-if's.' She did her best to stop it on her own, to keep her unstable emotions from her mate while she did her best to keep her vocalizer silent as the guards passed. She even had a hard time convincing herself to take the energon they were being provided because it could be poisoned or drugged. She knew she was being irrational, but that was her processor.

Scatterblade offered what comfort he could, whether she accepted it was another matter. He was there for her, taking in her panic and swallowing it with his optimism.

'If we don't get outta here soon,' she both expressed fear of her inevitable actions and warning to her mate that it would come, 'Ah'm not gonna be able ta control muhself much longer.' Even as she warned him, she tested the power in the bars keeping her in her cell.

'Please, don't do anything stupid,' he knew he was wasting his time, but he couldn't help it.

Blindside had been silent which had started to worry the frontliner until an enthusiastic cry broke the silence a few breems ago. Now it was just as silent as before. He didn't risk calling out to the other mech in case others had heard the pirate and come running. So far, there were none.

During what would have been one of the 'routine' rounds, more than the standard number of guards came marching down the line. Some stopped in front of Illusory's cell while more moved on to Scatterblade's. They stood there silently for a long time just staring at the occupants. Illusory paced nervously at the back of her cell, trying to decide if she stood any chance of fighting them off.

Scatterblade stiffened but didn't move at the prying optics. He had to keep Silverdust out of sight.

A few clicks later another, oddly tall, thin, black and white mech paced down the hall. He clearly had no concerns for whatever was within the cells as he walked by, though some of the creatures within cringed away and other's screamed as he passed. He looked in at Scatterblade, then passed by to Illusory's cell and studied her for a few clicks.

"Find it," he stated finally, and both cells were opened, and the guards rushed in, shoving Illusory and Scatterblade against the wall roughly, their hands grabbing at anything that might have been loose and yanking. Illusory shrieked and screamed, kicking and scratching at the mech's with all of her considerable strength; despite her undercharged, off balance state.

Scatterblade threw his arms out punching and striking to keep them away. He stood between the mechs and the little femme, keeping her in the corner.

The tall, thin mech spotted the sparkling and easily reached around Scatterblade while the guards occupied him and snatched the little femme. Silverdust cried out fearfully, reaching back for her mech creator through the flailing limbs of the guards, not caring as she was knocked a few times. Illusory roared with fury, nothing but white-hot panic and fear shooting through her bond with her mate. One guard had to back off as the femme's claws ripped through a supply line and energon sprayed from his frame. The femme tried to use the advantage and charged forward only to be slammed back against the wall so hard her processor blacked out.

Scatterblade lunged at the mechs but Illusory's pain slammed into him over the bond, and he lost all control of his motor skills, his optics shorted out and static rang in his audios. He landed on the ground writhing from the agony that tore through him. He couldn't focus on any one thing: Illusory's anger, Silverdust's fear, his own panic as control slipped away.

"That's interesting," the tall, thin mech said as if it were nothing more than a minor curiosity as he tucked the wriggling sparkling under his arm and walked away. "Secure them," he stated easily as he walked away.

Even without his sensors, Scatterblade knew what was happening. He was lifted, and stasis cuffs were locked onto his arms and wrenched upward. When the mech could see again, his audios still ringing, he was alone, and the doors were closed.

It took some time for Illusory's senses to come back to her, but even before she could process any of her outward senses, her spark told her how much she hurt right now. She cried out, unable to hear her own wails but unable to stop them none the less. If anything happened to Silverdust, she would never forgive herself! When she could finally perceive her surroundings - however numb she was for it - she felt her arms stretched high above her in stasis cuffs. She just hung limply from them, unable to muster enough care to take the strain off her shoulders.

When his audios rebooted, Scatterblade groaned. Then he realized that he had always been groaning. His whole frame was shaking. "Lu...?"

The femme wailed again. "They took her," she cried out, her voice thick with static. "They took her!" Illusory continued to wail with fear and grief.

Scatterblade's trembling strengthened until he was yanking at the restraints. What happened? Where did they take her? Someone had to stop them. Blindside... "Blindside!"

The pirate couldn't help them, but what else could Scatterblade do?

Through their creator bond, the pair could feel Silverdust's panic and fear. Whatever was happening, she was terrified. When a spike of pain struck through the bond, Illusory's anguished wails turned to snarls of rage as she fought against the restraints uselessly.

"I will destroy them!" She promised loudly.

Scatterblade's struggling ceased, and his frame froze. No... It was bad enough he felt Illusory's pain coursing through him. Now Silverdust was hurting too.

Joors passed in agony for them all. Scatterblade did his best to help his family, but their combined pain, Silverdust searching for safety and protection, Illusory fully given into her insanity, his own torment...it was just too much.

Quick footsteps sounded in the hall, falling to the steady pounding in Scatterblade's head.

"Woah, what the frag are you 'bots screaming about?" Blindside slid a stop, a few items swinging from his waist. "I'm gone two breems, and you sound like you're in the Pit."

"AH'LL DESTROY YOU TOO!" The femme roared as she yanked the shackles so hard something in her frame cracked. "THEY TOOK HER, AND WHERE WERE YOU?!" She shrieked.

Blindside flinched at the shouts. "I was getting us out of here," he said defensively, then turned to Scatterblade with hopes of a more sensible conversation. "Where did they go?"

Scatterblade just stared at him, the pain nearly immobilizing. "Left..." he choked, "...find her."

Real concern hit the pirate's faceplates. "Leave it to me." He grabbed an object from his waist, a gun Scatterblade now recognized. "Leave it to me."

Illusory screamed again, then devolved into her anguished wails again. She continued to cycle back into the rage when another spike of pain would stab through their bond and back down to the defeated wails. She was completely out of her processor with blind anger and deepest misery. She pulled on her restraints as hard as she possibly could, her frame cracking and screeching with the stress.

'Lu, s-stop...try to calm down...' Scatterblade could barely form thoughts to calm himself let alone calm her too.

'No!' She cried over the bond, 'I won't! Not ever!' Her processor only registered that her sparkling was in need and she couldn't get to her.

'If you-keep this up... you'll dash yourself to p-pieces. What good will we be then...?'

'Ah don't care! Ah don't care!' Still, the message had made it through, and she slumped uselessly in her shackles. "Blade..." she whispered in a static-laden voice, "what can Ah do?"

'Comfort her,' he said. His systems whined from the stress, and finally, he fell into emergency stasis.

"Blade?" She whimpered. "No..." She hung there, numb to everything for a few kliks until another rush of fear and panic poured through her bond, and she heard Scatterblade's words repeated in her processor. She did her best to swallow her own fear and panic and dump her entire awareness into the bond between herself and her sparkling, promising that everything would be okay. 'We love you,' she promised the little femme, 'we're going to make it all okay.' At the very least the singular focus helped keep her grounded.

Blindside rushed down the hall and scanned for any signs of life. He got plenty of them and refined his search. He dashed down halls jumping to blind spots along the ceiling whenever a crew member came by. Each place he checked was empty, and he growled in irritation.

In a small lab, tucked away from the main labs of the ship, the tall, thin mech continued to poke and prod the sparkling. He had screens set on the creators' cells, watching how they reacted to each new threat put toward the small femme. When the mech finally fell limp, clearly in stasis, he paused. Then the femme looked to do the same, though her optics were still glowing faintly golden. "Hmm," he pondered, "I wonder." He considered the trembling sparkling before him, then several of the tools he had handy, then reached for one that looked rather unimpressive but was one of the most devastating weapons in any science or medical reserve; a spark manipulator.

Silverdust screamed the loudest she had ever screamed in her entire life. On the screens, Illusory thrashed violently in her cell. The tall, thin mech watched with fascination as everything unfolded.

The pirate grimaced, hearing the piercing shriek. "Gotcha." He raced down the hall, sliding around a corner. With a flick of his wrist, he sent in a grenade, a bright flash to blind their optics and throw off their audios. He hit a mech hard and dashed to another before reaching toward the sparkling.

Silverdust had no idea what was going on, only that she couldn't see and she couldn't hear and something was grabbing at her. She struggled, trying to get free, to run and hide until her creators could find her.

Blindside struggled with the squirming little one, trying to calm her. "I'm taking you to your creator, stop wiggling."

The little femme continued to struggle for a few kliks, until the words registered to her, then she clung to the strange mech with all the strength that was left in her tiny little frame.

Blindside headed for the door and tossed another grenade behind him. He raced back into the maze of cages.

The halls were filled with the sound of Illusory's screams. She was too scared to catch the faint feelings of relief coming from Silverdust. She only understood that terrifying feeling that had flooded her bond and then the sudden end to it.

Blindside was almost to their cells when he skidded to a stop and leaped toward the ceiling. "Shh," he warned the small femme. Two guards stood outside her creators' cells. "Slag."

The little femme did as she was told, but squirmed to where she could see what was below. She could hear Illusory's screams, and it unnerved her, so did the silence coming from Scatterblade's side of the bond. She pressed toward them both, wanting to know that everything was okay. Illusory's screams stopped immediately, and she started responding to her sparkling's need for comfort over their bond, though she hung limply in the cell once more.

Blindside grunted and scanned the area immediately around him. "How well can you hold on, ya little hog monkey?"

Silverdust looked at the strange mech then slid close to him and slipped her little fingers into gaps on his frame to hold her tight to him.

"Well, that's not- whatever. I can work with this," he murmured. He used the beams to maneuver over the femme's cell. A few more minutes of finagling and he would get it open.

Illusory's frame tensed for a moment then she glanced at Blindside but made no other movement that indicated she was aware of anything.

The pirate lifted the panel slowly easing it open. He gestured for the sparkling to let go so he could lower her to the ground.

Silverdust did as she was told, letting herself be lowered, then turned for her femme creator.

Blindside slammed the panel closed and leaped onto the guard, blowing a hole in the mech's head. He then rounded on the second guard. Another few shots later the guard was down, and he started to work on the door.

Illusory did her best to gather her sparkling close to her, though the restraints held her where she was. "Thank you," she finally managed for the mech that had brought her sparkling back. It was weak, but entirely felt.

He grinned and grunted before yanking the door open. "Cuffs next, then the mech." He quickly worked the mechanism and caught the femme before she collapsed.

Illusory scooped Silverdust up, holding her as close to her spark as she could and the little femme clung to her tightly. "Blade's in stasis," she warned him, doing her best to stand on her own. "How are we getting out of here?"

"Carefully," he offered before hurrying to the mech's cell, busting the door and moving to the cuffs. When he got him free, the pirate pulled his arm over his shoulder. "Primus, you got heavy." He lifted the mech and dragged him down the hall. "There's a pod. Let's get outta here."

Illusory did her best to help Blindside with Scatterblade, keeping an optic out for more guards, or alarms, or anything at all. "This seems too easy," she mentioned nervously as they crept down the hall.

"Probably is," Blindside grunted.

Even as their voices echoed down the hall, a tall, slender form stepped into their path. Silverdust screamed with fear, and Illusory's engines revved with anger. Illusory held her sparkling close, torn between running away and rushing forward. 'Blade! Blade!' She called desperately, 'Please, we need you!'

Blindside lifted the frontliner higher. "Come on, Scatter, boot up." He elbowed the mech.

When that wouldn't work, he dropped Scatterblade.

The mech slowly got to his feet.

"Welcome back," Blindside said.

The frontliner turned to face the tall mech.

Seeing her mate moving, Illusory shrank back. "Are you with us?" She looked between the two mech's with her, then at the tall mech she wanted nothing more than to tear apart before finding a place to give her protection from the mech's icy gaze.

"Yes," Scatterblade said, then turned to the mech that barred their way. "You want to stay in one piece, you move."

"No." The mech stated simply, looking entirely unconcerned. "I will take the femme this time," he said motioning for more guards.

"You really do talk too much," Blindside said, then charged at the tall mech.

Illusory looked around desperately. The guards were coming, the tall mech that threatened her family was in front of her, and there was too much space between them and their exit. "Hold on, little one," she cooed softly as she rushed forward, doing her best to avoid grabbing hands.

Scatterblade rushed at the guards.

The guards expected the fight and were prepared to take on the rushing 'bots. Illusory managed to slip through several grabbing hands before one managed to snag her arm and pinned her against the wall. She slammed her other arm up just in time to protect Silverdust from being crushed between the mech and her combined weight. She struggled against him but she was weak after everything that had been happening, and she wasn't the strongest frame type to start with. "Take her to the labs," the tall, thin mech ordered, turning away from the commotion and headed back down the hall. "Lock the others up."

Scatterblade felt the hit from the mechs like a brick wall and went down quickly; he simply wasn't up to the fight. At the scientist's orders, he shot to his feet only to be shoved back down. Blindside was thrown down beside him.

Illusory fought back, but it was useless. Silverdust clung tightly to her, squealing fearfully.

Scatterblade shoved off the floor kicking the feet out from underneath the guard and ran for the two femmes.

Desperation took over, and Illusory reverted to her old defensive techniques. She wasn't strong, she was quick, she was agile, and she had an illegal program. She went limp in the guard's grip for just long enough to throw him off balance, then leaped on top of the tall, thin mech, tapping him quickly and letting her systems do the damage. The other guards were distracted by the sudden strange sound that filled the halls coming from the tall, thin mech and the small blue femme.

"Lu, no!"

Blindside slid to a stop and changed course as Scatterblade reached for Illusory. The mech grabbed her, pulled and hit the ground running.

Illusory's systems screamed at the separation, her processors froze mid-download and left her confused. Only a few guards made an effort to stop the retreating 'bots now - their primary concern being the tall, thin mech that was spasming on the floor.

"Go! Go!" Blindside cried encouragement and directions from the rear. They reached a small cockpit, and Scatterblade lifted Illusory and Silverdust inside. Blindside climbed into the driver's seat and began the process to break away.

Illusory tried to say something, but it all came out as static and rough sounds.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Scatterblade by the neck. "You really should get down from there. You might hurt yourself."

The frontliner froze. He knew that voice. "Lockdown."

"Pick her up and set her down here."

Scatterblade didn't move.

There was a venting of air. "I don't like returning damaged goods. Get down."

The grip tightened slightly, and Scatterblade flinched. He looked to Illusory apologies flowing from him. He lowered her to the floor of the ship before climbing out.

The femme tried to reach for him, but her limbs didn't work quite under her direction. Her arm banged against something else instead.

Lockdown nodded to one of his mechs, and the bot collected the femmes.

"Leave them alone," Scatterblade growled, more fear in his voice than anything else.

The hunter looked at him quizzically. "You've done something that only a fraction of our species has ever been able to accomplish, and that's what you expect from me?" He stepped closer. "You broke the rules. Time for you to face the consequences."

"N-n-no!" Illusory slurred as she tried to pull away from the mech. Silverdust buried her face into her femme creator's frame, refusing to watch what was going on around her.

"I'll take care of him personally. Take the pirate to the trash."

'Blade!' Illusory screamed over their bond, 'Blade, Ah can't think! What's goin' on? What should Ah do?'

'Don't let Silver go.' Scatterblade was shoved forward as Lockdown guided him away.

'Never again,' she promised, wrapping her arms around her sparkling as best she could.

'I'm sorry,' he glanced over his shoulder to her.

Lockdown shoved him once more, leading him deeper into the ship. As they went, a few details became familiar, though he couldn't place why. Within the tangle of new cables stood structures rusted with age. He could have sworn he saw pictograms but he couldn't make out what they were depicting. It became apparent this ship was renovated, or reformatted. "How... How old is this ship?"

The hunter grunted. "As old as the space bridges."

Scatterblade's steps faltered, and Lockdown had to yank him along. Up ahead was a platform with rings rotating around it. Cages. Some were closed; others lay open. Open for him.

Lockdown threw the mech to the floor and with a hook caught him by the leg. With a mighty swing, he lifted Scatterblade and locked his foot into place hanging him from the ceiling. The hunter shut the door, sliding it down, spikes shot out surrounding Scatterblade.

As Lockdown walked away, the frontliner called out to him, "You said I broke the rules. How?"

The hunter turned back. "You bonded, obviously. And the creators aren't happy about that."

That confused him. He didn't have creators. He had come from the Well. "What are you are talking about?"

"Those sparkling stories you were told, about the Primes and Primus and Unicron. Little lies to make you recharge better. You think you were born? You were built, and your maker wants you back. All of you."

Scatterblade stared at him as if he'd glitched. "You've been out here alone for a long time, haven't you?"

Lockdown laughed and shook his head. "You'll wish I was crazy."

"Where are we going?" Scatterblade didn't want to make small talk, but he had to get any information he could.

"You'll see soon enough." He paused, and the frontliner could see he'd received a message. "Much sooner," he said with a smile. He turned and left.

Locking mechanisms echoed as the ship detached from itself, the much smaller portion flying away. Scatterblade realized that this was the same ship that Swindle had used to capture them. He scoffed to himself; Lockdown has his own floating zoo.

It was some time before the ship stopped. Sounds of battle could be heard, but with Scatterblade upside down in a cage deep in the ship, he couldn't make out what was happening. Not even three breems later the ship was moving again.

A net was hauled up holding two damaged figures. One an SUV with a terrified human girl inside. The other, the last of the Primes.

Optimus; injured and immobilized, was dragged into the ship by drones. Lockdown guided him down the hall.

Illusory had struggled as she watched Scatterblade being taken away but there was nothing she could do. Instead she focused on her sparkling and trying to put her systems to rights while she was carried off back toward the labs. Her spark twisted with fear over what would happen next, but she swore that she would deactivate before they took Silverdust from her again.

She found herself shoved into another small cell, smaller even than the ones they had been in before. If she stood - not that she could, but if she did- she would have to crouch not to hit her head on the top. Silverdust clung tightly to her femme creator, seeming just as determined not to be separated from her as Illusory was to hold her. The little femme was terrified. Of all the horrible things that had happened so far, there had always been someone to reassure her that everything would be okay, but this time, even though Illusory tried to keep it hidden, Silverdust could feel the hopelessness dragging through their bond.

Illusory whimpered as she felt the rumbling through the floor and walls of her cell. ' _Now what?'_ she thought miserably to herself. Instead of dwelling, she shifted herself around so that her back was to the front of the cell.

The room their little cell was in sat silent for what was probably a full cycle; Illusory was rather certain she had lost track of time. Silverdust recharged in her creator's arms. Illusory wouldn't recharge. What if she missed an important message from Scatterblade? What if they took Silverdust from her while she rested? What if Scatterblade was deactivated? There were too many things that kept recharge from her.

When she heard footsteps echo through the room early the next orn, she just curled tighter around Silverdust and refused to acknowledge the presence of the other bot. What was the point? She wondered.

Illusory cringed when she heard the footsteps come closer, then the door was opened, and she was yanked roughly out. She didn't fight, didn't protest, just kept her arms wrapped tightly around Silverdust and did as she was directed to do.

"Give me the sparkling," a cold mech voice demanded of her. "Defiance will be punished."

"No," she stated firmly. She may be defeated in all other ways, but she would not willingly give up her sparkling for anything.

As a reward for her defiance, she felt an electric probe pushed into her back and shocks arced through her frame. "Give me the sparkling," the same voice demanded.

"No!" She answered a little more firmly. This time she was not shocked, but without warning felt part of her armor ripped away.

The process repeated several times, punishments varying between shock, brutal removal of unnecessary - but still sensitive - parts of her armor, and every once in a while a deep searing pain as she felt a blade of some form cut into her exposed protoform. Still, she always answered 'No' just as firmly - or more so - as she had the first time.

Silverdust was confused by what was going on. Her femme creator was clearly in pain, but over their bond, she kept telling her it was all okay and that nothing bad was going to happen.

The mech grew more and more frustrated by Illusory's denial's, questioning her why she was so determined? Why she would suffer so much when it was such a simple request. In truth, the mech was trying to understand just how far the creator would go, how much she would willingly suffer for what she thought was the protection of her offspring. To him, it made absolutely no sense. With her armor almost completely stripped, her frame trembling from lack of energon and stress, she was a miserable sight. "Very well," he stated finally. "Let's see if you'll give your very spark for it." He let the words sink in before moving for the femme once more. "Give me the sparkling," he said one last time.

Illusory curled around Silverdust tightly. "No!" She stated, her voice shaking with fear.

"Have it your way then."

The sound of a discharged firearm rang through the room from down the hall, shouts and the clanging of metal drifted closer. Then it stopped. For a moment everything stood confused and silent. The silence rang in their audials, a silence all knew too well. The silence before battle. They all expected something, and when it happened, they moved. A grenade lit up the room filling it with nanite-rich smoke meant to cloud sensitive receptors. All 'bots except the programmer were targeted by the nearly invisible creatures.

The figure moved swiftly, leveling the heaviest threats before turning to the two femmes. With just a touch, the mech altered the program, adding two new users.

"Let's move," he ordered Illusory.

For a moment, oh so briefly, she considered defying him, but her desperation to save Silverdust won over all of her other fears and worries, and she struggled to her feet once more to follow, clinging to her sparkling as if her very life were in that connection.

Blindside kept an arm near her, guiding her out of the labs. He almost had to carry her just to keep the pace he wanted. He navigated the ship like it was his own, leaving a weaving trail if they happened to be followed. The nanites were a great distraction, but making more would take time and a lot more energon. He glanced down to the femmes. They could use some, too.

With that decision made, he guided Illusory to another level of the ship. Toward the engines, nestled in cables and the shifting skin of the ship, he had made a nest of sorts. A small stash of energon cubes, some bits of armor he had planned on repairing and any ammunition he couldn't carry on his frame.

Illusory followed wordlessly, doing her best to keep up the pace and pushing herself as hard as she could. She never complained when he pushed her along, understanding deep in her processor that she was putting them all at risk.

Blindside guided her and gently settled her down near the cubes. He felt if he were to start talking she'd shut down. He had to give her the chance to calm down before he started shoving a cube in her hand.

It took some time before she quit flinching at every sound or movement, but eventually Illusory looked at Blindside and seemed for the first time to realize just who had come to their rescue - again. "Where's Blade?" She asked finally, her voice raw and unsteady. She didn't sound hopeful or defeated, just blank. Almost like her processor was spitting out the only thing it could think to say, which was very likely the case.

The mech vented slowly. "Locked up is the best bet. Means he's not deactivated." He paused, immediately regretting he'd been so blunt but it was too late to take it back. "We're getting him out, don't worry."

Illusory nodded numbly, then took a moment actually to look around. "Where are we?"

Blindside grinned. "My cache. Been waiting 'til I had enough transmetals for armor. Gonna have to keep waiting, I guess."

Illusory couldn't remember a time her processor felt so muddled. She understood what was being said to her; she just couldn't place it into any sort of priority tree. She felt stalled and unable to move forward. "I think I need recharge," she stated finally, looking to Blindside for some manner of guidance. She wasn't sure if that's what she wanted, or if there was something else she should be doing. Something at the back of her processor was screaming at her, but she just couldn't gather what was so important right now. She was numb everywhere, and she felt exhausted. Surely a little recharge would make everything okay.

The pirate nodded, "And energon. You both need it. We'll be okay up here if we stay quiet."

The femme vented, feeling a little relieved that she didn't have to keep pushing on right that moment. She helped Silverdust drink as much as she would before taking some for herself. She hardly finished it before her systems dropped her into recharge without her awareness. Silverdust stayed tightly latched to Illusory's meager chest armor and likewise dropped into recharge.

Blindside eased the femme down, so she wasn't resting sitting up. When she was settled, he leaned back and cycled cool air through his systems. He scanned the femme, pinning the missing pieces of armor. With quiet practice, he began shaping his stashed metals.

Illusory was surprised when she came online. She didn't remember going onto recharge and she still felt like she could use more, but something was bothering her, she was sure it was important but she couldn't place it. She first checked that Silverdust was in her arms and still recharging, then looked around. She spotted the pirate and it seemed as if everything came flooding back. Her frame hurt, her processors ached, and her spark was still searching for Scatterblade. "Blindside? " She asked tentatively. "What are we going to do now?"

"You're going to take in as much energon as you possibly can without purging it. Then, we're getting off."

"Getting off?" She seemed unsure what he meant at first, taking a few moments to process. Then a scowl crossed her face. "Not without Blade."

Blindside gave a short vent. "He'll be fine."

"No," she said as firmly as she could. "I have had to leave him to suffer alone too many times. I will not do it again," her voice broke at the end of her strong speech, showing how terrified she truly was. "My spark cannot take it anymore."

Blindside grunted. He didn't recognize his own reluctance until now. "He's not alone. And he'll have a rescue party coming for him soon enough."

"Who?" The despair in her voice spoke openly of her grief. "Who is left to save him if not us?"

Blindside scowled. "Look. LD has a new toy, and the 'bots that had it are gonna want it back. So, just focus on her." He pointed to Silverdust. "Scatter will be fine."

Anger flashed through her optics, but she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she did turn to Silverdust, focusing on the sparkling instead of the overpowering distress and guilt weighing down on her.

Blindside urged her to take more energon or at least get the little femme to fuel up.

She did as she was told silently, as though she were not even there mentally - which, truth be told she wasn't. She was thinking of all that had been lost, all of the pain, and grief, and sacrifice. She knew Scatterblade would tell her to go, to take Silverdust to safety and a large part of her spark agreed. Still, she couldn't make herself leave him again.

Blindside busied himself with the makeshift armor. Fitting it to the femme wasn't as hard as he'd first thought. It was explaining to her that he wanted to fit it _to_ her that was the hard part. After a few breems of thinking it over, he finally just said it and waited for her objections.

She looked at him blankly while he talked, then vented and looked back at Silverdust. "Fine," she agreed simply. In her processors, she knew it would be needed...especially if she was going to go after Scatterblade.

The pirate nodded, feeling impressed with himself and began the delicate process. He gave soft instruction if he needed her to move, carefully adjusting the armor as he went. He didn't need to rush this.

Illusory seemed to perk up as the armor came together. She looked at it with appreciation. "Thank you," she said. "For everything."

The pirate shrugged. "Scatter was a brother to me. It's the least I can do."

The femme laughed without humor. "Brother?" She bit her lip before she said anything further about her opinion on that. "Well, I suppose that makes Silverdust here your niece. We're all family now."

"I did say 'was.' It's been a long time," he said but shook his head, "but I like the sound of that."

"I used to like it too." She said with a dark undertone, "until they started trying to tear us apart...deactivated us." She smiled up at him, "sorry, its been a very long several orns..."

The mech shuttered his optics. "Kay, now I'm lost...we talking about the humans now?"

"I...I really do not know." She vented. "Processor is all scrambled. I need 'Blade. He always straightens me out when I get mixed up."

"One thing at a time," he said standing. "We need to get off this ship."

"But..." she growled softly. Stay or go, stay or go? What was she supposed to do? Tentatively she reached out to her mate. 'I want to help you,' she pleaded, 'but I don't know what to do.'

Scatterblade reached back to her in a warm embrace with a need to know everything; was she safe, where was she, what was happening to her, all scratched at the barrier of that warmth. His needs were second to hers. 'I've been moved. I don't know where. Get Silver out of here.'

'I don't want to leave you again!' Silently, underlying everything else was the assurance that Silverdust was fine, but she was uncertain about herself. 'I need you...Blindside wants us to get off the ship without you. I can't even process right!'

'Are you safe?' The need behind the question was nearly blinding.

'Yes...I think so. Blindside says so. Do I trust him?'

Uncertainty and doubt had flashed through their bond before a resounding affirmative sounded. 'All of us have a past we're not proud of. And we can all change.'

'Okay,' she trusted his choice. 'What about you?'

'I'll...figure something out...' The emotion didn't need to clarify how stuck he felt, but they went all the same.

Illusory cried out with despair. She couldn't go to him; he didn't know how he was getting out. 'I can't just leave you.' Over their bond, her voice was steady - the sound of over-extended emotion. 'I can't do it again.'

There was something he was holding back from her and didn't even deny it. 'It will be okay. It has to be.'

She didn't hide the fact that she didn't think so. She had always been the pessimistic one. Still, she relented to him. 'Promise?' She pulled herself upright, readjusted Silverdust in her arms and turned to Blindside. "I am trusting you to do what is best," she said finally. She made no comment toward her seemingly irrational mood changes or the fact that she was certain that if she had the opportunity she would go to Scatterblade instead, no matter the risks.

Blindside shook his head. "Sure you do." He gathered what supplies he had found. "First things first, grab what you can use. Don't pick up a grenade if you don't know how to chuck it."

"I am certain I can figure out which part to toss," she stated rather emptily but did find a small pistol she felt comfortable using.

"No, it's a legitimate concern. You wouldn't believe how many bots had a weak toss or didn't know the fragging radius. Cons aren't known for their mental prowess. Well, most aren't."

Illusory vented softly. She certainly wasn't going to argue that.

"We need to hurry our afts..." Blindside said gathering the last of his treasures.

Illusory did her best to focus on the task at hand, helping to stow what was useful and keeping her frame moving quickly. She could not hide her hollowness though. As far as any might assume from appearance, she could have been a drone. Silverdust continued to hold tightly to her femme creator, though her uncertainty of all this was just as evident.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	19. Chapter 19

~*~ Chapter Nineteen ~*~

Day 336

Blindside guided the two toward the back end of the ship. As they moved, the ship began to hum.

"Frag. That's the engines."

"He is leaving? " Illusory asked dumbly as if she couldn't imagine where else this ship and its horrid crew could go.

"Yeah, and we need to get to the aft. Let's go."

Her spark screamed at her that if this ship left with Scatterblade on board, that would be the end of it. 'Do what you are told,' she demanded of herself coolly and picked up her pace. "Lead the way," she urged.

Blindside shot forward, weapon ready for intruders. As they moved he could hear others; it sounded like the crew arguing.

Illusory tucked herself around Silverdust, the pistol she had felt comfortable with in hand and ready.

When they grew closer, the mechs came into sight. Blindside vented. "You've got to be kidding me. There's a Wrecker down there." He pointed to a large green mech threatening another green mech. A blue mech stood with them along with two humans.

"Those are Autobots!" There was a touch of hope in her voice, but listening to them argue, she shrank back. "Should we go with them?"

Blindside grimaced.

"I..." she vented nervously, "I really do not want to if we can avoid it." She almost sounded ashamed to admit that she still had reservations with Autobots despite her mate and being among them for so long.

"Good plan," Blindside agreed quickly, but he didn't move. "Let's follow 'em."

Illusory nodded, sinking back into the shadows, drawing on her old skills as a spy.

"I'll bet you fifty credits they're headed for Prime. They'll lead us straight to Scatter."

"If that is true, I will acquire fifty credits for you. With pleasure."

Blindside laughed. "They're still worth slag?"

"Probably not," a faint smile tugged at her lips.

The mech moved quickly keeping out of range of the 'bots' sensors. As they searched for their missing comrade, Blindside ushered the femmes along. Illusory almost felt normal again slipping from shadow to shadow and following bots entirely unseen.

As Blindside predicted, the mechs headed straight for the missing Prime. The larger green mech shouted with joy as the three 'bots rushed to release Optimus. The Prime ordered his mechs to detach the prison ship. Blindside almost jumped down to join them as the blue mech released Scatterblade from his cage.

The moment Illusory saw Scatterblade the femme fought with herself not to break cover. Her whole frame trembled violently. 'We are here,' she told him with joy and uncertainty.

Scatterblade visibly stiffened. 'Where? Blindside with you?'

'Yes, in the shadows...I do not know these Autobots,' she admitted with a touch of shame for her continued mistrust. 'Blindside did not seem too keen on them either.'

'He doesn't like anyone. Particularly those who don't like him. Stay with him. You'll be okay. We're getting outta here.'

'Okay,' she agreed, soothed only somewhat by seeing him freed. "I am staying with you for now," she murmured to the mech near her, so quietly she almost didn't make a sound at all.

"Whoopee." Blindside maneuvered closer to the group ensuring that he and femmes would be on board when the Wreckers managed to disengage.

Illusory wrapped herself tightly into the workings on the walls in the darkest shadows, snuggling Silverdust between herself and the wall with a little pocket of space to protect her from any rough flight. After making sure the femmes were safely hidden, Blindside tucked in just as the ship pulled away. A feeling of relief washed over him, and he let himself cycle in some cool air. Illusory hung on tightly as the ship drifted, rocked and bucked to freedom. For a moment she felt almost hopeful that all would be okay - then she remembered everything else going wrong on Earth and she just vented. Wherever they went, there was still going to be problems.

The main ship blasted away, and the larger green mech maneuvered their escaped section away from the city. When they landed, it was a rough one. Blindside got knocked loose from his perch. The instant the other bots saw him they drew their weapons. Blindside still registered as a Decepticon and little would change how they felt. Scatterblade jumped between them, quickly explaining. It took both the frontliner and their Prime to get them to back down. Illusory's frame ached from the stress of impact, but she held on. With the commotion when Blindside was exposed, she rushed forward, daring the mechs to aim a weapon at her and her sparkling. No words needed, their deactivation was promised if they didn't control themselves. Thankfully between Prime and Scatterblade the weapons were soon diverted. Once she was sure the mech that had saved her family repeatedly was safe, she abandoned all self-control and lunged for Scatterblade.

The frontliner scooped her up nearly collapsing from the impact, relief, and joy. He just held her all of his love and relief flowing toward her over their bond. Caring nothing for the scene they were making, Illusory all but sobbed openly as she clung to her mate, only giving enough so that Silverdust wasn't crushed between them. The little femme was very excited by her creators' joy, chirping and trilling happily. She let go enough of Illusory to grab onto Scatterblade's armor too.

Blindside grinned at their reunion standing as far from the group as he could be, allowing the couple to be his buffer.

The humans in the group; a father, and daughter and her boyfriend went off to fetch supplies. That's when the four Autobots came to a decision: they were using the ship to leave the planet.

"You can't be serious," Scatterblade said. "We can't just up and leave. What about the humans? They're just as much family as the rest of us."

"I am thinking of you," Prime said directly. "Our race can survive, but not here. You and yours are too precious to lose."

"I will not leave my family," Illusory stated firmly. "Not a single living one of them," her voice shook a little as she thought of those that were gone and those that might be gone. "I am sorry Prime, you have been kind to us, but this is not your choice."

There was deep concern and disappointment on the mech's faceplates, but he nodded. "It is not, but it is also not safe here. Not anymore. We can not protect ourselves, and we can not protect you."

"Then I'll give it a try," Blindside spoke up for the first time.

The Prime nodded. This brought grumbling from Crosshairs and Bulkhead; only Drift seemed to share Optimus' forgiveness.

Illusory smiled warmly at the mech, despite her misgivings about him he had saved her and her sparkling - putting himself at risk to do so. "Suppose you really are a part of our family now."

Blindside rolled his optics. "Don't close your vents."

"Where will you go?" Prime asked.

"We've got to find the others. You four aren't alone. We will stay with those who don't go with you; protect each other." Scatterblade said firmly.

"Anyone who needs it," Illusory agreed. "Autobot, Decepticon, Neutral, and human too. There are some humans just as hunted as we are."

Crosshairs scoffed at this, even though the humans with them were exactly that. Bulkhead knocked him on the head.

"You best move quickly. I doubt our presence here has gone unnoticed," Optimus said as he moved to give them a clear exit.

"Stay safe, Prime," Scatterblade offered in parting.

Illusory didn't have to be told twice. She headed for the exit. 'Should we attempt to make contact?' She asked her mate, still not trusting her own judgment.

'We get away from cities first. I'm really not in the mood for more people right now. Then we find ours.'

Once they were a good distance from the ship, Blindside sauntered toward a freeway and hunkered down, waiting for a suitable alt mode to pass. Illusory transformed quickly, shooting for cover until her companions were ready to go. Scatterblade scanned another alt mode, a basic dark blue car. Blindside chose a very new, burnt orange Lincoln.

"Did you burn out your optics?" Scatterblade asked with a grin.

"Frag off. I like this color."

"Okay, then..."

"Subtle," Illusory remarked blandly.

They headed out together away from the cities and into the unpopulated wilderness. Scatterblade didn't stop until they had driven as far as they could, and then walked several miles into the forest. He didn't want anyone knowing they were there. Blindside didn't complain or take the point. He was aware that his friend needed the normalcy after their stay on the prison ship. Illusory followed quietly. At first, it seemed she was calm and reasonable, but as the time kept ticking by, she became jumpy and nervous again. She almost shot a squirrel that ran too near her foot, muttering about not having the sense to run away. The pirate chuckled at her discomfort, finding amusement in the high-strung femme's actions; and got several annoyed looks from Scatterblade for it. When they finally stopped near the base of a mountain, Scatterblade searched for a cave or ledge to keep watch. Even this far out, they needed shelter from wandering eyes. Illusory fidgeted uncomfortably while she waited for Scatterblade to find a suitable place for them to hide. Her processor started to ache horribly and she began mumbling to herself.

Blindside watched her carefully, suspicious of her odd behavior. "Femme, stop that. You sound like a fragging glitch."

It was then that the frontliner returned and smacked the orange mech upside the head. Just enough to be painful, but not enough to cause any real harm. "Don't talk to her like that." He said as if Blindside should have known better.

The ex-Con held up his hands in surrender.

"Let's head up. It's small, but it's secluded. There's a spot just a little up the mountain; we should be able to get a hold of someone up there." Scatterblade held out his hand to help Illusory to her feet.

She took it, glaring at Blindside as she stood. Then, just as she prepared to haul herself up the cliffside her shoulders sagged, and she looked at him again. "I am," she stated before beginning the climb.

Blindside couldn't look her in the optics, feeling a little ashamed for being so casual about something that could have been so personal. Scatterblade vented and followed after her, staying close just in case. Climbing was a little complicated with Silverdust holding onto Illusory, but the femme made no attempt to hand her off. Once they were to the cave, she stood looking over the vast forest.

"You think they are out there?"

Scatterblade's thoughts fell to Charlie and her child. There was no way she survived that fall, at the very least her baby was gone. "I don't know. Charlie fell..." He shouldn't have started talking. He knew he had just broken floodgates within his mate.

"Fell? From where?" The emotional backup as her processors imagined everything that could have happened loomed like a tsunami against their bond.

'Swindle tried to take her with us...and he just...just dropped her.' His tone was numb.

Illusory stood stone still for a moment while that sunk in. 'She...they're both...the baby...' She couldn't take it anymore and collapsed miserably to the floor, her systems giving out the very faint sounds of a mounting breakdown.

"Frag," Scatterblade crumbled to his knees as the feedback rang over their bond. He struggled to stay online focusing more on Silverdust and to try to reassure her.

Blindside hurried up to the two and easily lifted the downed femme. "I've got her."

Scatterblade nodded his thanks and slowly pulled himself back up. Silverdust sought Scatterblade, needing his comfort. He was all too happy to pick her up, holding her close as he guided Blindside the rest of the way to the spot. Illusory's frame heated up to near dangerous levels; tremors shook through her as she silently keened. The emotional wave suddenly stopped as the femme dropped offline, her systems finally maxing out and shutting down to prevent any further damage.

Scatterblade vented in relief. He steadied himself against a tree, shifting the little femme in his arms. "Let's get to where we're going."

"You going to be okay?" Blindside asked suspicion evident on his faceplates.

"Since when do you care about-"

"Now. Okay? Now. Since you just about joined little miss glitch here. I'm not trying to be rude but she's broken. And don't try telling me it's not affecting you."

Scatterblade stared at him. He had changed. This mech before him wasn't the obnoxious know-it-all he had fought with in the past. "I'm not okay."

Blindside nodded. "Don't act like you are is all I'm saying. We'll get settled, and I'll see what I can do for her."

"She's got an augmentation I don't think you're prepared to handle."

The pirate grunted. "We'll see."

Silverdust clicked at Scatterblade curiously, wondering what was going on.

"It's okay, Silver. He's going to try and help Mama...and get knocked flat on his aft," he added looking to Blindside.

"Ha ha. You're so hilarious. You really think you should be teaching her language like that?"

"Don't you have a degree in curses?"

Blindside vented and set Illusory down so he could attempt to help her. Or at least find where to begin.

Silverdust trilled happily and asked to be put down so she could look around. Scatterblade let her down with quick instructions to stay close and joined Blindside near his mate. After a few joors of study and multiple scans, the pirate decided what he would try.

"I've got a few datatrax I can spare. I might be able to use it as a second storage unit. All the slag she downloads, it won't be gone, just a little farther away from orn to orn processes. All the stress she's been going through has everything running on a loop. It'll take time just to slow it enough to move it, but it should help."

Scatterblade squatted down and gave the pirate an inquisitive look. "Where did you learn this?"

He shrugged. "Some of it from past crews. Most of it I'm bullshitting."

Scatterblade chuckled. "Decided to learn the jargon?"

"Feels good to say." Blindside spared his old friend a smirk before he started working. It was going to take some time, but he was sure it would be worth it in the end.

When Illusory began to come online, she was confused. It didn't feel like it normally did - at least not recently. For a moment she wondered if she had finally deactivated. Then she felt a presence beside her own processors, and a spike of panic hit her. She didn't know who it was, certainly nobody she had allowed access before and her systems began to reject the foreign presence.

"Woah. Easy. You're going to feel disoriented, and it's normal. Well, actually it's not for you, but we're going to pretend-"

"Knock it off. I'll take it from here." Scatterblade settled down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

Illuosry tensed, waiting for the backlash, the processor ache, her systems trying to download information that just wasn't there...but there was hardly anything. "I...can think..." she said uncertainly.

Scatterblade laughed. "You did it," he grinned at Blindside.

"Don't sound so surprised."

"You said, you said you were-" Scatterblade shook his head. "Never mind. Thank you." He turned back to Illusory. "Blindside gave you some extra storage. He put it all in the back of your mind, so to speak."

She thought about that for a few seconds before turning back to Blindside. "Are you a medic or a technician?" She closed her optics then shook her head. "No, I do not care. Thank you for helping me again."

Blindside laughed. "Well, you're welcome."

"Do you need some more rest? We can always comm the others later."

"No." She pushed herself up. "The sooner, the better...they may need help."

"I'm watching you," Scatterblade said, helping her up then lifted Silverdust up. "Mama's awake."

The little femme squealed happily and reached for her femme creator who gladly accepted her back into her arms. Illusory felt unsteady but better than she had since the attack on their home. She was amazed and the relief was like highgrade. Scatterblade helped his mate to the ledge. Hopefully, with three of them the broadcast would reach Jazz or a deep vent, Illusory opened her comms and reached out to the coded frequency they had been using before.

::Anyone out there who can hear this; we've found shelter and are safe for now. Need a location.::

Scatterblade copied the message and sent it out in another direction to widen their range; Blindside helped boost their signals with a tap.

::Hey, is that my favorite bonded pair Ah hear callin'?:: Jazz's tone was light and happy, but there was a stressed undertone. ::What's yer status?::

Scatterblade found a new smile spreading across his lips. ::Why do I keep feeling surprised that you guys are still kicking. We're safe. All three of us. But we have some news. We'll see you soon?::

::Always kickin', mech. Always. See ya real soon.::

Illusory waited a little longer before saying anything. "He did not mention anything about Charlie..." She didn't know if she was happy or not. Was that good, or bad? She was so confused and didn't know what to think. "You think...maybe...there is a chance?" She looked hopefully to her mate, wanting him to say yes, but also wanting him to tell her she was being foolish trying to get her hopes up. It might just be easier if she kept right on grieving for her friend and the child she had carried.

Scatterblade's shoulders sagged. "Let's wait till they catch up."

"I suppose any of them could be gone," she vented, then turned away from the cliff and found a place to sit. She was exhausted but had become so used to not being able to shut down on her own that she didn't even consider trying. Silverdust happily curled into her side, playing with the dirt and rocks nearby.

Scatterblade shuddered at the thought. He stayed at the cliff edge, thinking of what to do while they waited. "I'll throw out a line. See who bites."

"You'll do what now?" Blindside screwed up his faceplates.

Scatterblade vented and sent him the Earth specific data packet all the Autobots had been given as part of their planet-side update.

"Oh...What the frag is fishing?"

Scatterblade laughed, and they spent some time in between broadcasts to teach his friend the lingo. Illusory sat zoned out long enough that she seemed to be in recharge.

Several hours passed and then there was finally a response. ::Hound here, 'Blade, how are you?::

Scatterblade laughed brightly. ::We're good. Who's with you?::

::Well, team one and team two. Waiting on team three.:: There was a definite smile in his voice. ::Knockout, Blurr, Prowl, myself, Vance, Charlie, and Rex. We're just waiting on you guys, Jazz, Raj, Arcee, Billy, and Myra.::

Scatterblade jumped into the air, both hands to his head. His laughter was one of relief. "Charlie's alive." He announced with joy. ::We contacted Jazz. See if you can reach him. He's on his way here.::

::Will do! We'll see you soon, friend.::

Illusory was shocked from her stupor. "She's alive?"

Scatterblade plopped back down on the ground. "The whole group. They split up to bring everyone back. Charlie's okay..."

Blindside watched the two curiously. "The human means that much to you." It wasn't a question. He already knew the answer. He just didn't know why.

"We have been through a lot together." Illusory couldn't hide her smile. "That is good news."

The pirate was quiet. "How big of a group are we talking?"

"What?" Scatterblade cocked his head.

"How many, Scatter?" His stance screamed defensive, closed-off.

"Ten or so plus us. What's gotten into your wiring?"

"Nothing. I ain't got anything crossed. Just curious."

"That does not sound suspicious at all." Illusory stated unhelpfully. "You have no reason to fear any of them unless you try to hurt anyone that is."

"I ain't gonna bite. And I'm not scared."

"Nobody said that," Scatterblade said watching his friend carefully.

"Alright. Stare at me all you want. At least for as long as you can see me. I'm doing a perimeter check." He jumped down from the ledge landing hard on a tree. It tilted, and he slid down the trunk as it fell.

Scatterblade shook his head. "Smooth."

"I get a distinct feeling that he is uncomfortable."

"Obviously..." He shook his head. He was quiet for a moment. Then he scooted closer to her. "What do you remember about...I don't know...Primus? The beginning of the world...that sorta thing." He had a far away look on his face, uncertain and uncomfortable himself.

She leaned into him, enjoying his nearness. "You mean like the sparkling stories? I do not know, a little bit. Not much at all, really. Why?"

Scatterblade vented. "I don't know...something Lockdown said. Sometimes those stories are the things you need to believe in most."

"There are many who do not believe in them, what does it matter if that mech is one of them?"

"I got to thinking...why do we have driver's seats?" Scatterblade looked up to her real concern on his faceplates.

Illusory's expression filled with confusion and consideration. "To better blend in - here anyway. Back home...well, to carry sparklings and younglings too small to transform on their own." She sounded pretty confident, but as though she had never considered it before.

Scatterblade vented and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm being silly." He couldn't shake the nagging in his processor.

"If it bothers you, I want to know." She was very concerned now. "What did he say?"

"He said, we were built. That we were just...pawns," he growled. He cycled more air before continuing. "He told Prime, our _creators_ wanted him back. That he was made to do what he was told." He vented again to pull the heat from his frame. "I don't care if it's true or not, but I really just need to hear he's lying."

The femme pondered it seriously for a while before responding. "Our frames are built," she pointed out, remembering how Ratchet and Wheeljack had worked together for Silverdust's frame, "but our sparks...those are not. We have seen that for ourselves."

Scatterblade smiled. "You think a lot better than I do," he chuckled.

"Hn, thanks to Blindside." She smiled again, marveling at the lack of pain in her processors and that she could think clearly again. Sure, there was probably damage and still a few glitches to work on, but overall she felt like herself again instead of some off balanced, overprotective, psycho that needed her mate to straighten her out every two breems.

"So it's still holding?" He wrapped an arm around her.

"Seems so. What I can tell it is not one-hundred percent, there are a few lingering things, but overall I feel...like me again."

He held her close. "That's great. I'll help keep it that way."

"Good. I never want to be like that again." She snuggled close, pulling Silverdust into her lap. The little femme laughed, dragging two rocks along with her and clacking them together loudly.

"Making music?" Scatterblade chuckled to their little one.

She squealed happily and kept clacking the rocks together. Illusory relaxed, feeling contented at this moment. Her systems cycled down naturally, and before long she was in recharge.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	20. Chapter 20

~*~ Chapter Twenty~*~

Day 338

It was well into the evening when a short range ping came to Scatterblade from Jazz asking for location now that he was in the area. It was keyed to the mech specifically, Jazz was still uncertain of Illusory's unstable state of processor and didn't want to trigger something accidentally. Scatterblade accepted it and replied in kind. He didn't move from his spot. Waking Illusory from peaceful recharge was the last thing he wanted to do. It wasn't long before the sleek saboteur slithered over the edge of the cliff and stood looking down at the small family. The mech kept a smile firm on his faceplates, but he was busy cataloging the damage between the three - Illusory's patched armor didn't escape him, nor did the tell-tale marks on Silverdust's chest plates from the spark manipulator. He only just managed to stop his engine from revving with anger.

"How's it hangin'?" He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb Illusory. Silverdust looked up at him and chirped happily, attempting to extract herself from Illusory's grasp so she could greet the mech she recognized as friendly and familiar.

Scatterblade turned his head a little startled but immediately relaxed. "Jazz. It's so good to see you."

"You too, mech." He came closer and leaned on the wall. "What happened ta ya?" His visor gave no clue as to where he was looking, but his tone was pretty clear that he knew that their trip had not been all sunshine and rainbows.

Scatterblade vented softly. "Swindle delivered us to Lockdown. He said something about a bounty for us. That we'd broken the rules. I still don't know what he meant."

"Lockdown?" Jazz sounded honestly disturbed. "How'd ya get away?" Though he didn't move, he looked tense, and his scanners went out to maximum range.

Scatterblade laughed tiredly. "Wreckers. Bulkhead, Crosshairs, and Drift. They were rescuing Prime," he said heavily.

This time Jazz actually showed his surprise in his frame, his arms dropping from their crossed place on his chest. "Prime's still online?" Then he shook off the shock. "Suppose that might not last if he's with those mechs," he chuckled. "At least they got ya ta safety."

Scatterblade laughed again even more wearily. "They hijacked a ship and talked about leaving. But there was something they had to take care of first."

Jazz nodded, silently weighing the different options in his processor. "Prowler'll wanna know. We should head back..." he was going to say as soon as possible, but his gaze shifted to the recharging femme, "whenever yer ready," he decided. There didn't seem to be any danger in this area; no jets scouting, no military vehicles patrolling. It was pretty quiet actually.

The mech nodded. "She'll want to keep moving. Especially to Charlie." He paused. "Do you know what happened?"

"Eh..." the mech grimaced a little, unsure of what to tell them now and what to wait and let them see when they got there. "Ya know, Ah don't know too much..."

Scatterblade could tell he was holding back but nodded. "Okay." He lifted Illusory a little. 'Lu, Jazz found us.'

The femme booted up quickly, but without the usual confusion or need to attack the first thing she saw. She vented happily at that feeling and looked over to the smaller mech. "Hello, Jazz."

Jazz looked even more surprised, then a little suspicious. "Hey, Lu'. How are ya?"

"I am good," she said honestly.

"We ran into a friend," Scatterblade offered as explanation. "Apparently he acquired some skills since last time I saw him." He stood helping, Illusory to her feet.

"Where is he, anyway?" The femme noted the dark hour and wondered if Blindside had come back at all or if he had abandoned them. She wouldn't be surprised if he had and she couldn't blame him for it either, but a small part of her regretted that he might be gone. There were so few that they could trust right now.

"He'll turn up. I'll give him a call." Scatterblade connected to him quickly.

::You alright up there?:: The pirate had a panicked tone.

::Yeah. He's an ally. You can come out.::

::Sure.::

Scatterblade vented. "He'll come," he assured Illusory.

"Good." Illusory got up and stretched, noting Silverdust was amusing herself with Jazz's 'toes.' She smiled at the thought of her sweet little femme playing with the balancing mechanisms of one of the most dangerous mechs ever to function - furthermore that she wasn't bothered in the least by it. "Where is everyone else?"

Jazz nodded his head in the vague direction of a highway they could see in the distance. "Raj didn't want ta get sticks in his joints again an Arcee thought uh patrol would be good 'til Ah found ya." He didn't mention that the femme was still concerned about Illusory's mistrust of her. She had thought that Jazz would have better luck rounding up the small family if she wasn't in the immediate vicinity. Jazz tensed a few seconds later. "Yer buddy; he uh 'Con?" His systems were winding up silently, prepared to fight if he had to.

Scatterblade stood a little taller trying hard not to act defensively. "He was barely a 'Con in the beginning. Hasn't been since."

"Alright," he nodded, though he didn't let his battle systems cool just yet. He didn't want to be caught off guard. "Ah trust ya. After all, we got K.O. don't we?"

Scatterblade nodded, but felt the need to keep an optic on Jazz anyway. "Yeah."

Blindside slid down the side of the mountain, some dozen yards away. He walked over to them, optics averted. "Hi," he greeted cautiously.

Jazz looked over the newcomer critically, though his visor hid the action. "Hey, mech!" He welcomed friendly enough. "Names Jazz," he did one of his fancy moves that brought him closer to the other mech, also making it easy to reach any weapon at any moment, then offered his hand to the other mech. "Hear ya've helped muh friends here. Thanks fer that."

Blindside flinched and side stepped to add some distance. He watched the hand carefully. "Blindside," he offered, finally taking his hand. "Scatter makes some damn fine messes. Gotta have someone to clean em up."

"Heh," Jazz smiled, as he shook the mech's hand then released him. "Think there's nothin' but messes right now. Ya plan on hangin'?"

"Figured I'd give it a try." Blindside glanced to Scatterblade still wary of the smaller mech.

Scatterblade smiled encouragingly. "You'll like it here. Especially when they stop gunning for us."

"Well, ain't that optimistic," the pirate said dryly.

"Actually," Illusory pointed out, "it is." She smiled at the pirate. "It took me a long time to get used to everything...after I did, it was pretty good. Hopefully, it will be like that again some orn." Grief washed over her again thinking of their lost home, lost friends, all the hurt and pain they had gone through over the past solar cycle. She prepared for the overwhelming backlash she was sure was coming, but it didn't come and the surprise was almost enough to override the grief.

Jazz nodded at the pirate. "Welcome then," he offered before spinning on his heel. "Whenever yer ready!" He announced.

Scatterblade nodded. "Let's head down."

Blindside didn't say anything or grunt his usual agreement. Just followed after the silver mech.

Illusory came down last, taking her time balancing Silverdust between herself and the cliff. Once they were on level ground, Jazz led them deeper into the forest until they came across a disused service trail where he transformed and headed out to the highway. He pinged the others that they were on their way and to meet them when they merged onto the busy road. Illusory hardly recognized the other two 'bots as they came up behind the group; Mirage in a now sleek purple sports mode while Arcee had chosen a soft blue speed-car alt. Illusory felt the familiar anger for the other femme's momentary laps in observance that had led to Charlie's capture, but the force of it wasn't nearly so powerful as before. Scatterblade kept an optic on both femmes ready to get between them should Illusory go after Arcee. He could feel her ease, but the anger was still there.

They had traveled for quite some time before another car pulled along side them - a dark patrol vehicle. Illusory prepared to make a run for it; there was no way she was going to be captured again. Then a familiar voice came over the comms.

::It is good to see you all here,:: Prowl stated rather evenly, though any who knew him could sense the relief in his tone. ::And I see you have brought a new mech,:: there was a moment of pause while he waited for explanation of the Decepticon signature.

::Friendly,:: Jazz answered almost before Prowl quit speaking. ::Helped them out, an' seems ta have uh bit of know-how. Got Lu functioning almost normal again.::

::Understood,:: Prowl stated, offering Blindside a rather standard 'welcome package' that held all relevant information that would help any 'bot in their current situation without exposing any sensitive information that he could use against them should he choose not to remain friendly.

Blindside accepted the package, but it only eased him so much.

::Welcome,:: the tactician said just as evenly as everything else he had said. ::I will guide you to where we are currently staying. Charlie and Rex are eager for your return.::

::How are they?:: Illusory couldn't stop herself from asking.

Prowl didn't answer.

Scatterblade warmed his mate over the bond. 'Almost there. We'll see them ourselves.'

'I do not like that no one is willing to give any information. Something has happened and they do not want to tell us.' The femme half growled, half whimpered, fear driving her engine to push for more speed, not that she knew where she was going, so it was useless.

'We'll meet it head on,' he told her, not feeling any better. The dread ate at him. Something had gone horribly wrong. He felt confident that Charlie had lost her child, what was worse than that?

Prowl lead them from the main road, over several back roads that degraded further and further until there was no road at all. He transformed and led them the rest of the way on foot. Illusory kept a look out for any sight of her human friends, wanting desperately to see them with her own optics and know that they were okay. Her processor was still rushing with all the worst things she could imagine, and she was holding just shy of a full-on panic attack. To soothe herself she kept Silverdust close and cooed softly to her. Scatterblade tried to stem the ebb of her panic siphoning it off slowly and running it through his own engines as if he could burn it off himself.

Illusory caught sight of the camp and rushed past everyone, pushing Silverdust into her mate's arm, her need to get there overriding any caution she might have had. "Charlie?!" She called to her friend, searching for her.

The frontliner took Silverdust as she was thrust to him and carefully followed after his mate at a slower pace.

The camp was quiet, watching, holding intakes and breathes for the heartbreak about to be renewed. A tent opened, and the woman scrambled outside, eyes searching, short hair whipping around.

"Charlie!" Illusory dropped softly in front of the woman, scanning her and taking in her friend's thin shape. "Are you...are you okay?" She wasn't sure what she wanted to say, or what to ask. Her friend was here, alive, but haunted and the bulge that was to be her child was missing. "Where's Rex?"

"I'm here," the man's voice all but groaned from inside the tent while he struggled to get to his feet. His ribs were healing, and they didn't hurt nearly as much as they used to, but moving was still a chore.

Charlie moved to help him stand, tears already streaming. Her smile was bright, and it shone through the pain on her face. "Lu... You're all okay!"

"Charlie," Scatterblade released Silverdust as he knelt beside his mate.

"Blade. Silver!" The red head laughed brokenly.

Silverdust made straight for the woman, latching onto her with happy clicks and trills.

"Yeah, we are okay," Illusory couldn't stop the worry from echoing in her voice.

Rex stood behind Charlie, looking with mild awe that the small family had come back. In the back of his mind, he had been sure that they would be lucky to see any of them again let alone all of them. He could see the marks of whatever they had gone through but made no mention of it.

"Rex," Illusory saw the way the man held himself and knew he was injured. "It is good to see you both," she looked between the two humans, her processor latching onto the one fact she didn't want to acknowledge. The baby was gone. Her spark screamed with sorrow for the loss she was beginning to comprehend.

Scatterblade couldn't keep the pain from his face. He knew any words he could offer would just be words.

Charlie hugged the sparkling tightly before looking up at her parents. "Lu. You seem- better. What happened?"

"Blindside," she pointed to where the mech stood away from everything else. "He helped me." She took the distraction gracefully, wanting something different to talk about until she knew how to respond to the situation. "He saved us a few times too."

"New friend?" She asked, watching the mech trying to ignore everyone, but his optics wandered with curiosity.

"Old friend," Scatterblade said simply.

"Like Knockout?" She craned her neck to see the newcomer.

"Something like that," the femme admitted. She didn't know for sure how to describe the mech, only that he had been there when they needed him and she was willing to trust him. "More Neutral though, despite the spark signature."

The other mechs were arriving, Knockout being the first since he tended not to wander too far. "I don't recognize you," he stated upon reading the signature.

"Same to you," Blindside muttered to the medic before giving Hound his full attention, or something close to it.

Hound was more than eager to greet the newcomer, though he did not crowd the mech's space. "I'm Hound," he stated, then waved around the camp to the others. "That's Knockout - he's mostly talk, Prowl - the mech that brought you here – he's pretty much in charge around here. Blurr is on patrol, but he'll be back shortly." Then he turned to the humans. "That's Rex and Charlie, sure you've heard about them." Then he pointed to a man holding a slab of raw meat prepared to cook for dinner. "That's Vance, and Myra," he pointed to the other human woman who was standing back a bit staring at Charlie. She had quickly put two and two together and didn't know how to respond.

"I'm surprised he never found you guys," Blindside said, "You've got a big group. Not saying that I wish he had or anything. Just- surprised."

"Well, between Jazz's skills, Prowl's tactical processor, and my know-how, we're pretty under the radar." Hound explained.

"We were found," Illusory pointed out darkly. "That is how Scatterblade and I ended up there." She thought about what Scatterblade had said, her processor reproducing the image of Charlie falling from Swindle's careless grip and her engine revved with anger and grief.

"But we're all here again. That's what matters," Charlie reached for Rex's hand and squeezed it.

"Well, let's not waste it. You got something needing to be done?" Blindside asked Hound, eager to be put to work. Being around this many 'bots was making him feel edgy.

"Oh, there is always something to do. What would you like to do? Blurr is usually taking patrol unless he's recharging. He dosesn't like to be still for long. I've been managing the comm signals from up there," he pointed to a high cliff that could just be seen through the canopy of trees. "Knockout has been working on repairs..." at this the large green mech vented fondly, "there are a lot, unfortunately. If you want to help with our future plans, that's Prowl and Jazz has been our resource mech - we don't ask where he gets things from -"

"It's best that way," the silver mech agreed. "Everyone kinda just does what we can to make things better."

"I'll see what I can do about speeding up repairs," Blindside spoke as he walked.

"Knockout could use the company," Charlie said.

Blindside spared her a glance before continuing. It wasn't a sizing stare and didn't feel confused. Charlie thought it looked like the kind of stare a cat might give as it watched you walk by, almost like it was daring you to try something.

Rex didn't much care for the look, but he also understood why the mech might not trust them. Look at what humans had been doing to them recently.

Knockout studied the mech a bit. "Medic?"

He shrugged. "Just good with my hands. Replaced the femme's armor."

"Did you?" He sounded a little skeptical but nodded. "Okay," he scanned the femme from a distance, still wary of the way she sometimes glitched at his presence alone. "That's not all that's changed, was that you or them?"

"Like I said, good with my hands. You learn to be-" he cut himself off with a shrug. "You keeping everyone put together?"

"I do my best, though that's not the easiest thing some orns. I could definitely use another pair of hands." He pointed out several of the issues among the 'bots around them; including Illusory's glitches, Hounds chronic need of repairs for joints clogged with organic gunk, Jazz's mystery injury that he insisted was 'nothin' ta worry about' but that would show when he didn't think anyone could see, and Prowl's tendency to freeze up when things became too irrational. "Though, it is fun to see him glitch, getting him out of it is hardly worth it. Other than that, it's basic repairs, and the humans; which I will go ahead and assume you know even less about than I do - and that really isn't much. It's a lot of work keeping this crew functional." His tone sounded jaded, but his optics showed he cared quite a bit about this rag-tag group.

"Scatter gave me some data about this place but yeah..." Blindside shifted on his feet, clearly ready to put his hands to some use.

Charlie watched the two mechs for a moment before turning back to Scatterblade and his femmes. "How are you all doing?" She could see their weariness and the markings on both Illusory and Silverdust. Worry began to knot in her stomach.

"Better," the frontliner offered with a smile.

"Much better now that we are here," Illusory promised. "How about you?"

Charlie took a deep breath and smiled, trying to make the action look natural. "I'm healing."

Scatterblade's spark stung as he watched the woman. She leaned heavily on Rex; not just physically but in every way. He couldn't have imagined how she might be if he wasn't there for her.

Illusory just nodded. Settling herself nearby she kept up idle conversation while she waited for her systems to force recharge.

Silverdust ran off with Hound, and much to everyone's surprise, the femme allowed it with only a request for occasional pings. She looked nervous, but not the overbearing mother bear she had been before.

Rex couldn't help but wonder what had happened now and whether it was a good sign or not.

Hound was more than thrilled to have the little femme with him while he went back to monitor comms.

Vance and Myra started cooking the meat he had brought back earlier, along with some other things they had found in the forest.

Charlie felt like staying busy but easily fell into the conversation and just seeing her friends again. She practically clung to Rex, keeping him off his feet for his benefit and just not ready to let him go yet.

Knockout and Blindside made rounds on all the bots, making adjustments and repairs as they went. The medic quickly became appreciative of the pirate's skills. He was no medic, but he had a good optic and handy skills.

Blurr was the hardest to get due to the mech's unwillingness to remain still for long at all, but his frame was in need of tuneups.

Knockout waited to see to Illusory last of them all and showed caution when approaching. "How did you convince her to let you do repairs before?" He had asked before they were in audio range.

"Very carefully. Scatter helped."

"Hmm." He was hardly reassured but pinged Scatterblade to let him know what he intended. He knew it was impossible to predict the femme's behavior, though he was hopeful with the changes he had seen.

Scatterblade accepted the offer gratefully and nudged the femme through his bond giving her the request.

Illusory huffed irritability. "Is that necessary?" She was worn down and feeling raw enough from recent events, but despite not wanting to be bothered she didn't seem as though she would glitch.

"Just get it done and over with," Scatterblade encouraged.

At first, it seemed she would protest, then she vented and relaxed. "Fine."

Knockout approached cautiously, expecting her to change her mind at any second, but she just sat there, annoyed but waiting. "Alright," he vented quietly as he began checking all the new plating and attachments while he scanned her for anything deeper. He noted the cuts that were healing fine on their own, nothing too serious, but the connections for the armor disturbed him. ::Do you know how she lost the old armor?:: he asked Blindside.

::She wouldn't let them take Silverdust.:: he wasn't trying to be vague but talking to bots wasn't one of his strengths.

::The joints are pretty damaged, they may need some reworking. You did good fitting the armor though,:: he continued making notes on what he found. ::You broke the data loop!:: He was honestly impressed by that. ::No wonder she's more compliant now. We weren't able to divert the data enough to break it, which was causing a significant portion of her glitches. Now I guess we'll see which ones were not due to her upgrade.:: He turned his focus back to the femme. "You need recharge, go ahead and shut down."

Illusory stared at him blankly.

"Access your recharge protocols, " he said as if speaking to a slow youngling, "and activate them."

Blindside furrowed his brow. Had he fixed the biggest problem only to screw her up further?

The femme looked troubled for a moment, then seemed to remember how to do it. Relief took over as her systems began shutting down. "It has been so long..." she murmured before falling into recharge.

Scatterblade watched the pirate vent and release his tension. "Thank you, both."

"Now that she's down," Knockout found a port and plugged in, "let's make sure she stays that way for a bit." He activated medical stasis before the femme might become aware enough to stop him. "We'll need to rework those joints before they become a problem. Think you can handle that?" He asked Blindside.

"Absolutely." He dove right in, pulling several tools from subspace, a few he had pilfered from the labs on Lockdown's ship.

Knockout looked with approval at his collection then turned to Scatterblade. "You next."

The frontliner groaned. "I'm fine."

"Uh huh," the pirate hummed as he worked.

"Your femme did it, you will too." Knockout stated as he started scanning.

"Start glitching?" He challenged.

"Relax, Scatter. You really want to start falling apart now?"

Knockout gave the mech his best medic look. "Why are you being more difficult than your femme?"

"I'm not," his tone was still defensive, so he vented to relieve his stress, "I just don't like having both of us out when Silver might need us."

Knockout gave a half smile. "She's safe with Hound. Besides, you won't be down long." He had already decided what he was going to do and had no intention of letting the mech go without. "You'll hardly even notice."

Scatterblade shook his head. "Right. Alright." He relented.

Hardly having waited for approval Knockout found a port and was putting the mech down. "Besides, " Knockout said after the fact, "they both need the downtime."

"No frag. That wasn't a party boat," Blindside said flatly.

"Glad I wasn't there."

It was almost a joor before Knockout dropped Scatterblade back into recharge to rouse on his own.

Blindside laughed, "So, next mech?"

"Well, it gets tricky. Hound will be easy enough; he's pretty compliant. Jazz...is dangerous. Prowl, also dangerous unless you can convince him logically." He vented. "They all need the basics."

"Let's get to it then," he grinned, an itch for danger about him.

Knockout laughed. "I like your spirit."

Blindside jumped to his feet eager to move.

"Okay, I challenge you to get Jazz while I deal with his high and mighty subordinate Mirage."

Blindside grinned. "My name's not just a pretty title." He walked off in search of his target.

"It's been nice knowing you," Knockout chuckled as he set off for his own next victim.

The pirate casually walked around the forest. ::Hey, Jazz. Wanna spar?::

::Spar?:: The mech sounded amused. ::Got some steam ta blow?::

::It has been far too long,:: he admitted.

::Ah see,:: there was definitely a note of curiosity in his voice. ::Why meh?::

::You got a rep,:: Blindside chuckled.

::True,:: he all but purred. ::Ya think yer up fer it? Ya did just come from Lockdown's ship.::

::I'd be insulting myself if I just sat still.::

::All right, Ah could use ah little stretch. Away from th' camp. Don't wanna bug anyone.::

::Sounds great.::

The saboteur slid from the darkness nearby. "What's yer pleasure?"

"Tag," he tapped the mech before taking off into the trees.

Jazz was confused, causing the mech to hesitate before giving chase. "Tag?" He laughed, "Mech, I made that game!" He bounded off, heading back into the trees to pursue his target.

Blindside laughed turning on a dime and throwing up dirt to hide his exits.

Jazz saw the cover and took a few kliks to determine where Blindside had gone. "Tricky," he noted quietly.

The pirate did this once more sliding across the forest floor before redirecting.

The saboteur followed, though he was suspicious something was up. He slipped into the shadows to hunt his target from a more safe vantage point.

Blindside threw another distraction and barreled into the dark.

Jazz found the last distinct mark of the mech and started seeking the smaller signs.

Blindside slammed into the smaller mech, effectively clothes-lining him.

Jazz rolled with the strike, going down easy but rolling back to his feet. "What's this really about?" He asked, sliding back to his feet in a defensive position.

"I'm not trying to hurt you. Just the opposite."

"Wasn't created yesterday, mech," he growled dangerously.

Blindside held up his hands. "Woah. Seriously! Knockout and I were just doing rounds. I'm helping him with repairs."

Jazz studied the mech, then straightened. "Seriously? And how was this supposed ta help?" He still sounded suspicious.

"Icebreaker...?" he said shrugging one shoulder.

Jazz didn't look entirely convinced. "Uh huh." He shifted his weight to his left. "Well, ya can tell him Ah'm good. Ya should focus on th' others. Arcee's been needin' uh tune up; an' Ah bet ya could convince her just fine."

"Come on. When was the last time you had an energon infusion? I got a few cubes from when I was up on the ship. I'm rationing it out for everyone, so you really don't have a reason to say no."

There was the briefest moment where the mech looked tempted to give in. "Save it fer th' younglin'."

"Like I said, I'm rationing it out to everyone. She'll get what she needs."

"Then it'll last longer."

"How about half?" he tried again, "A dose?"

"That's it huh? You'll leave meh alone then?"

Blindside's shoulders fell. "If that's what you want. Sorry." He tossed the mech a cube and turned to leave.

Jazz caught the cube and watched the mech leave. Despite his initial unease, his systems were all but desperate for the energon, and he was gulping it before his processor could consider that he should scan it first. His systems hummed with satisfaction and he almost wished he had accepted the rest, but he did not regret his choice too much. "Maybe he's not so bad," he decided.

Blindside got to the camp and scanned for locations so he could move along the list of mechs that needed tune ups.

"Didn't get him did you?" Knockout commented.

"I got him to refuel," he shrugged as he continued.

"That's something at least." He nodded. "Take your pick; the others shouldn't be too hard."

The pirate nodded and went off in search of Hound. The friendly green mech was sitting with Silverdust in the shade of a tall cliff. He was explaining photosynthesis to the curious sparkling which was thoroughly enraptured with it all. Blindside went with a more direct approach and simply asked if Hound needed anything.

"Oh, well, if you don't mind I could use a little work. It's probably just dirt build up."

"You know, I was thinking about that. Knockout mentioned you have a chronic situation. I may have a solution for that," he knelt next to the 'bot and gave the little femme a grin before beginning to clean the grit and grime from the mech's joints. Silverdust watched with a large interest while Blindside worked.

"Really?" Hound sounded hopeful.

"I'm thinking some kind of flexible polymer to protect the wiring from build up. It may take awhile to put it together, and we may have to work out some prototypes..." He shrugged.

"I'd be happy to help. Especially if it works, it's a pain to deal with."

"I'll do what I can," he said.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." He vented with relief as the dirt fell from a particularly difficult joint. "Saw you running around with Jazz earlier. Trying to convince him to get repaired?"

"In a very long round about, beat the bush - well, mech - way," he vented.

"He doesn't really trust anyone but Ratchet..." a wave of sadness gripped the mech. "It will take time for him to learn."

Blindside shifted. "I'm really sorry about that. I remember Lockdown saying..." he paused and shook his head. "Nevermind. Sorry."

"It's okay." He shifted a little. "We'll all adjust eventually. A lot of good bots are gone, it just takes time. But anyway, better things."

The pirate nodded. "You know, I'm not an expert, and I'm probably - most likely - pulling this out of my aft, but...when Lockdown came back to the ship, any time he came back now that I think about it, he had a spark. Intact." He paused to consider what he was saying. "Do you think it would be possible to...maybe rebuild? I mean, why not crush it? Why did he keep it if not for his sadistic pleasure?"

"That's something," Hound was a little disturbed. "I don't know too much about sparks, but Knockout could probably tell you one way or the other. It would be nice if that were possible...wonder who he has."

Blindside shook his head. "I don't know." He spent several more breems cleaning before mixing some polymer to test on an ankle joint.

Silverdust poked at the stuff curiously. Hound pulled her away where she could see but not touch. "Let the mech work, kiddo."

Blindside paused before pulling out something the little femme wouldn't hurt herself with: a round chunk of metal. "That should keep her busy."

She trilled happily taking the offered 'toy.'

"So easy to please," Hound chuckled.

Blindside grinned. "Wish I could remember that."

"What?" Hound asked as he set the femme down to play.

"That innocence, just working orn to orn instead of fighting."

A wistful look came over Hound. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"How long do think it'll take for the humans to forget all about us?"

"Well, their species is short-lived, but they do hand down stories through generations. It's hard to say. Depends on how much they want to hang onto their anger I suppose."

Blindside grunted. He began casting the material based on his scans, and before long he fitted the accordion-like pieces onto the joints. "I'll fit the other one, and if it works for a bit, we'll move all the way up."

"Sounds good!"

While he finished the chore, he talked with Hound though his optics wandered to the small femme. Blindside never expected to see another sparkling again, and it felt like seeing a ghost. The mixture of awe and discomfort was evident and strange.

"Pretty amazing, isn't she?" Hound commented. "I was pretty shocked when I saw a sparkling among a bunch of soldiers."

"I was surprised to find Scatter alive, honestly."

"Oh? Statistically or because of temperament?"

"Last time we saw each other, it didn't end well."

"Oh. Well, sometimes life can surprise us all, huh?"

Blindside nodded, "I'm really glad I was wrong."

"He's a good mech." Hound nodded. "Glad you helped them get away. Would have been a real tragedy to lose the only known existing familial unit like that."

"Yeah, no pressure or anything," Blindside chuckled.

Hound laughed. "Yeah, I suppose that's really not fair...but it's true."

"That should do it," he said, closing off the awkward conversation.

Hound tested his movement, then stood and put weight on the joints. "Feels good. I'll take a patrol a little later and see how it holds up."

"Sounds good. I can take Silverdust back."

"Sure," he agreed without hesitation. Unlike some of the others, Hound was rather trusting. He seemed to know there was no reason to worry about Blindside and accepted him as part of the crew. "Her creators probably want her home by now."

Blindside picked up the little femme and perched her on his shoulder.

Silverdust squealed happily, looking at everything from this different point of view.

When he reached camp, Blindside quickly found the couple, still in recharge. He settled against a tree and passed the time entertaining the little femme.

Prowl glanced at the mech, his expression as unreadable as ever, but he said nothing as he continued doing whatever it was he was doing. Knockout came back looking rather ragged, having spent a good joor trying to keep Blurr still enough to remove a large, splintered branch from much of the mech's right side after he had accidentally run into it on his way back from a patrol. The speedster had already come back to camp and was in recharge. Arcee was sitting with the humans, holding a decent conversation, but her optics continued to glance in Blindside's direction watching the sparkling carefully. Mirage was lounging on his own, ignoring everyone as he buffed some unseen flaw in his finish. The only mech still not accounted for was Jazz. It didn't go unnoticed by Blindside and guilt seeped through his frame. He tried to give his sole focus to the little femme.

Silverdust was playing happily for some time, then suddenly she stopped and looked to where her creators lay silent. She clicked quietly at them but didn't move any closer to them.

"It's okay. They're just resting," Blindside encouraged her.

She looked at him and clicked unhappily.

The pirate scooped up the femme and brought her closer to the pair. He did a quick scan. It looked normal, but he did an in-depth scan just to be sure. His spark spiked and he tensed. "Knockout. Knockout, get over here!"

Everyone else perked at the call, fear and concern washing through them all.

Forgetting his weariness at the sound of Blindside's voice Knockout ran across the camp. "Whats going on?" He asked as he came closer, his scanners already running.

::I have no idea. Silver just started freaking out. I did a scan because I thought what the frag, why not, wouldn't hurt. Then it turned into something,:: he rambled as he tried to reign in his panic.

::Okay, keep calm, or everyone is going to panic. Let's see what's happening. What did your scans register?:: He was linking into Scatterblade to see if he could rouse the mech.

Blindside sent the results to him and tried to just relax. ::It almost looks like her glitches linked to him, but I won't bank my creds on it...:: he offered.

::Ah, the wonders of sparkmates...:: Knockout grumbled with annoyance. ::We've got to get one of them out of the cycle, preferably her. If she breaks it, he'll come out on his own.:: Knockout released Scatterblade and slid to Illusory. ::Tap into him, see if you can't reach him while I try to stop her from glitching.::

Blindside switched to his friend and reached in. ::Scatter. Scatter. Scatter,:: he sent the transmission to the frontliner hoping the annoyance would help bring him around after he got the boot-up process started.

Knockout groaned with discomfort almost the second he linked into Illusory's recharge protocols. "What a mess."

::What's it look like? Did I screw it up? Sorry, I'll shut up.:: He sped along the boot-up process, careful to keep it moving in the right order.

::I doubt it's anything you did directly. Femme's systems glitched hard, and we couldn't stop it, it's probably a combination of everything.:: He vented loudly as he pushed and shoved the systems into the right sequence, finding that somehow some had become broken or were missing altogether. ::This is probably the first time she's manually activated recharge since the initial glitch.::

::What can I do? I'm almost done getting him up.::

Scatterblade's systems began to move forward as he spoke.

::Get him up, tell him what's going on and help him get through to her so I can follow her boot-up and catch any glitches there.::

Blindside continued to bug the frontliner until Scatterblade lifted himself from the ground.

"Are you trying to get your head caved in?" He groaned.

"Don't talk to me, talk to Illusory. Get her to respond." Blindside busied himself keeping Silverdust calm.

Confusion hit him followed immediately by the distress coming in over their bond. 'Lu. Lu, what's going on?'

"Let me know when she's responding," Knockout instructed while he kept shoving coding around. "This glitch ran deep. I'm going to put a medical lock on that upgrade before it bites me again."

'Lu, sweetie...wake up. Lu, can you hear me?' Scatterblade lifted the femme to him.

She responded to her mate, though it wasn't with anything that could be considered words, but definitely a sense of 'just a few more breems.'

'Let's join the world of the living and then we'll let you recharge as long as you want. Within reason,' Scatterblade said quickly.

'Why? What's wrong?' A wave of alarm shot through her, still not aware enough to make sense of any of it.

"Woah now! Keep her calm!" Knockout struggled to maintain the boot sequence order, her sudden distress re-ordering her priority tree.

'Relax. You're okay. We're just trying to get a check up.'

'Thought we already did that,' she grumbled. 'Can't it wait?'

'Silver's just a little worried. So, we're helping reassure her.' Scatterblade continued to help try to get Illusory put together.

'She's okay?' Illusory finally started to sound more aware.

'Yes, she's fine. Just worried.'

'Okay.' She was quiet for a moment. 'Why is it so hard?'

'I think there's a still an active glitch.'

'Fantastic, ' she grumbled.

"It's going good, shouldn't be long." Knockout encouraged them.

'It's okay. Just ride it in,' Scatterblade said gently.

Soon Knockout disconnected with a vent of relief and shortly after Illusory's optics came online.

"That sucked," she grumbled.

"At least you're online." Knockout sneered with a touch of humor. "Could have left you like that and then what would you do?"

Illusory just groaned in return. Scatterblade chuckled.

Blindside moved closer to the femme. "Where should we start," he asked Knockout.

"Start what?" Illusory growled.

"We have to fix the glitch, or this could happen again. It will only take a joor or two."

A fierce wall of defiance spiked in the femme. She was prepared to argue, her frame tensed as if she thought she might make a run for it. It was entirely reminiscent of how she had responded to anyone trying to get close to her systems before Scatterblade and Ratchet had come along.

"You need to be able to recharge properly," Scatterblade said firmly.

Knockout looked prepared to be the first to move, one thing about having been a Decepticon medic was that he had fewer reservations about being aggressive with troublesome patients.

'It'll be alright. I'm right here the whole time,' he said, sending her gentle waves.

"All right." She relaxed a fraction but still seemed unsure that she was really willing.

"Okay, Blindside, how good are you with basic coding?" Knockout was already linking in and indicating Blindside should do the same.

Illusory was clearly uncomfortable.

"Adequate," he commented before joining the medic.

"Good. Make this mess match basic coding, and we'll go from there." Both mechs were met by the usual firewall and rapid download attempting to reverse the access them but Knockout's medical lock held and allowed them to work.

Blindside moved what data he could into the backup space to clean out the bound coding and patch up what was supposed to be basic code. Knockout worked behind him, searching out glitches and linking the basic coding to the primary coding.

A joor passed, then two, and they were well into the third before Illusory started rejecting the alterations and they had to stop. They had the recharge protocols corrected, but with each new alteration, new errors jumped up.

Blindside pulled away from the coding. "We're not getting anywhere. You just keep an optic on her and let her rest." He said to Scatterblade.

Once both mechs had detached the femme hopped to her feet, stumbled a bit before she gained her balance and took a few steps away.

Scatterblade went to her side immediately and eased her back down. "You don't need to rush off."

She all but fell back to the ground. "Ah don't like this," she whimpered. She was confused, disoriented and not entirely sure what had happened.

"I don't either," Scatterblade soothed gently. "Just rest." He called Silverdust to them to help ease the flowing emotions. Having their sparkling nearby would give Illusory something clear to focus on.

The little femme happily climbed onto Illusory's lap; the older femme easily let her processor slip to the importance of her sparkling rather than the trouble of her glitches.

Knockout vented hard and sat back, shivering his armor to release the tension. "You're pretty good," he said to Blindside. "Could have used a mech like you much sooner."

Blindside grinned. "Well, use me while I'm here."

"You say that like I'm going to let you leave, " the medic joked.

"Not anytime soon," he shook his head. "Just been a while since I've been on a crew."

"Well, you're handy none the less. Why don't you go recharge for a while? The rest can wait."

"I've got an idea to add to the list, but it can wait, too," the pirate stood and wandered off to find a spot he felt good enough to plop down and catch a joor or two of recharge.

Once Illusory had settled, she pulled away from Scatterblade just enough to look around. "Sorry, I know I have been a pain. You deal with me so well."

"Families are good for that," Charlie supplied coming closer to the three bots.

"Did I disturb you? I am so sorry." Illusory felt poorly about how she was acting.

"No, you didn't. Startled me, maybe, but nothing worth worrying about." Charlie placed a hand on the femme's knee. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? Like someone is drilling holes in my processor and filling them with acid." She vented softly. "That will pass though."

"That sounds terrible!" Charlie cringed. "I'll let you sleep. It sounds like you need it."

"You do not have to go," the femme said a little awkwardly. "If you do not want to...I mean, I can wait for rest," she stumbled.

"I can wait to talk to you. Really, I may take a nap, too." Charlie gave her a pat and headed back to the tent.

Illusory vented softly. "Okay." She thought about getting up and walking her thoughts out, but she really didn't feel whole or entirely coherent. "Recharge would be good," she admitted, leaning into Scatterblade and pulling Silverdust closer.

Scatterblade nodded and gathered his femmes closer to him. Recharge did sound good.

* * *

TIME

Cybertronian / Actual / Equivalent

Klik / 0.21 seconds / 1 second

Astrosecond / 10.15 seconds / second

Breem / 8.12 minutes / minute

Joor / 6.50 hours / hour

Orn / 13 days / day

Metacycle / 130 days / week

Groon / 1.71 years / month

Vorn / 82.06 years / year

TERMS

Shift/Cycle: the equivalent of 8 hour 'shift'

Off Cycle: The down time that we would consider 'night' but isn't defined by light or dark

SPEECH

"Talking."

'Bond Speak.' (or private thought)

::Comm line.::

~Other~


	21. Chapter 21

~*~ Chapter Twenty-One~*~

Day 340

Charlie settled beside Rex in the tent.

"How are they doing?" Rex draped an arm over the woman.

"They're exhausted. I can't believe they haven't slept yet," she said. "I'm kind of worried about the new guy."

"Oh?" There was a touch of alarm in his voice.

"He seems uncomfortable. I mean, I know he's a Decepticon, but he just seems lost."

"Pretty sure everyone here is lost. He'll adjust. We could talk to him."

"I'd like that. After a nap," she nuzzled into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Sounds good to me." He cuddled closer, holding her as tight as he could.

Blindside got distracted in his search for a spot to recharge. Of all the places he had traveled through the vorns he had never been to a place with so much life. He had to admit he was starting to understand why Hound liked being out here so much.

"Ya shouldn't wander too far," Jazz leaned against a tree not far from the orange mech. "What are ya doin' out here?"

Blindside jumped and pulled his firearm from his hip, optics wide and stressed. He holstered his weapon as quickly as he had drawn it once he recognized the mech. "Sorry. Just hiking. I think that's what the humans call it."

"Ah see." He shifted a little. "Prowl says ya've been workin' pretty hard. Plan ta take uh break?"

"Looking for a spot, yeah," he nodded.

Jazz pushed off the tree. "Lemme show ya uh good one. Quiet, safe, but close enough ta camp ya can get there if ya need ta." He led the way, not looking to see if Blindside was following.

Blindside hesitated but eventually chose to follow. "I'm sorry about earlier. Should have been straight with you."

"S'okay, mech. Wouldn't be th first ta try that tactic with meh. Don't do it again an' we can get along."

"Good plan," he agreed, falling silent.

Jazz stopped in front of a small clearing that had a leaning stone in the center. It was large enough to shelter a single 'bot with enough foliage to provide cover from all directions.

"Cozy. Thanks."

"No problem. Ah get ya don't feel too comfortable around so many 'bots, thought you'd like this. An' at least Ah'll know where ya are. Comm if ya need anythin'." Jazz offered a short wave before slipping back into the shadows.

Blindside climbed the rock quickly and perched on top. The quiet was nice. The ship had had its quiet moments but not nearly this peaceful. He suddenly felt too exposed and realized his vents weren't open. All this space was too much, and he quickly ducked under the rock instead. That felt much safer.

As the day progressed, it got dark sooner than usual; remote flashes of light lit up the trees every few minutes.

"Is that lightning?" Charlie asked excitedly, looking up at the skies.

"Looks like it. We should stay inside," Rex suggested.

She groaned. "But it's rain..."

Rex laughed, "Yeah, and we're in the middle of a national forest. Maybe not the safest place to enjoy lighting."

"I'm not gonna climb a tree, Rex," she laughed. Then a rolling boom shook the air and the rain poured down in thick torrents.

"Wow," Rex unzipped a small section of the tent door to look at all the rain. "It's really coming down. I hope the 'bots are going to be okay."

Illusory's recharge was disturbed by a warning that water was seeping into her frame. Normally it wouldn't be an issue; their frames were rather impervious to water. However; with the small cuts still healing on her protoform, sensitive systems were exposed to the corrosive element. When she registered the rain, she tucked herself around Silverdust to protect her from the torrent.

Scatterblade did what he could to shield the femmes, looking for something that would be more shelter for them. He thought about the others, one in particular who – as far as he knew – had never dealt with a rainstorm before. ::Blindside? You should head back to us. Where are you?::

He didn't get anything in reply. Just more rain and wind.

"We are moving to better cover," Prowl announced from the center of the camp. "Everyone please grab what you can carry and ensure all humans are accounted for. This storm looks to last for some time and the natural effects have a high probability of an undesirable outcome."

"English, Prowl," Charlie sighed but hurried to gather the bags and tents.

"Flooding is likely," the mech stated blandly. "Is everyone accounted for?"

"I can't get a hold of Blindside," Scatterblade said lifting Illusory so he could maneuver her to safety.

::Blindside, respond,:: Prowl called over the general comm. ::Has anyone seen Blindside? Please respond.::

::Ah know where he was,:: Jazz called over the general comm. ::Ah'll check up on him.::

::Good, keep contact for relocation.::

::Ya got it, Prowler.::

Another boom shook through the clouds followed closely by another roll of thunder that drowned out most verbal communication. Nobody noticed when the rumbling began, the only warning sign before water came pouring down the cliff side only yards away from the camp. Not even the 'bots had a chance to react before the camp started flooding.

Charlie dropped what she was carrying and scrambled for higher ground, holding tightly to Rex as she ran. Fear and desperation gave her the strength to help him climb.

"Charlie!" Illusory watched with fear as the two humans scrambled for higher ground.

There was a shrill scream as Myra was swept away in a foaming rush of muddy water.

"I will get her!" Mirage called out as he slipped across the slick ground after the woman. They both disappeared into the dark water and trees.

Hound grabbed Vance as the man scrambled up a tree and headed for high ground. Prowl held his place rather well, trying to maintain some form of control of the situation.

In the deeper forest, Jazz flung himself to safety. "Blindside! Mech, if ya can hear meh, speak up!"

The orange pirate was up a tree. "What the frag is going on?"

"Primus knows! Fraggin' Earth weather! They have no control of it. Ya hurt?"

"No, just pissed off," he shot back, clearly irritated with his spot in the tree. He pointed behind the smaller mech, to a log that was rafting down the flood toward him. "Jazz, jump!"

The smaller mech leaped gracefully to the log, stumbling a bit on the landing but holding firm.

"Let's get outta here!" Blindside jumped from the tree to a rock just left of the rushing water.

Jazz leapt over to join him as his unintended raft rushed past. "Ah'm with ya there, mech."

Back at camp, Charlie was lifting Rex higher, trying to carry him out of the mud. The man was doing his best to push through the pain in his body to move faster and not weigh Charlie down so much.

Scatterblade was torn. He had to keep a hold of Illusory so the femme wasn't swept away but he couldn't just leave the humans there. "Arcee! Can you reach them?"

The small femme looked to the humans, trying to gauge the distance. She got a determined look then leaped from her place in a tree just above the rushing waters, grabbing onto the side of the cliff not far from them, but as she reached for them, another thundering wave came crashing over the ledge taking the femme with it.

"No!" Charlie screamed, nearly diving in as if she could save Arcee herself.

Rex pushed her back against the cliff wall. "Nothing we can do!" He shook with rage. All they had gone though and they were going to lose lives from the weather? It wasn't right.

Charlie almost fought against him, angry that he had stopped her but she knew she couldn't do anything to help. She just watched with dread building in her chest.

Prowl launched himself after the small femme and vanished into the darkness with her.

Illusory held onto Silverdust tighter as the water rushed around them. "'Blade! Take Silver!" She could feel the water in her systems sparking shorts though her frame. She was afraid of shocking the sparkling accidentally or that she would lose control and drop her.

Scatterblade took the small femme, holding tightly to Illusory's waist.

Not far from them, Knockout was doing his best to reach the family.

Charlie shifted and nearly slipped. "Hold still. Hold still!" Her panic was intensifying.

The moment Rex was sure he couldn't hold on any longer, even with Charlie helping, he felt himself yanked from the cliff. "Charlie!"

"Got ya both!" Blurr's rapid cadence filled their ears. The speedster grabbed the two struggling humans and got to the high ground before anyone realized anything was happening.

Charlie clung to the mech and reached for Rex.

"Where'd they go?" Illusory cried, suddenly unable to see the humans.

"Blurr has them. Blurr has them," Scatterblade assured her.

She vented with relief. "Good..." Looking around she saw that they were the only ones left in the camp. "What do we do?" A spark leaped from her frame, shocking Scatterblade.

The mech seized, his grip on Silverdust holding through it. When it ended, he vented a few times to ease the burn in his frame. "We'll wait it out. It's just a little rain," he said thoroughly unconvinced.

"Sorry! I...I can grab that tree; you should let me go. Don't want to damage you or Silver."

"I'll be fine. She'll be fine. We need to wait this out," he insisted.

Another shock wracked the femme, this one enough to cause her frame to go limp for a breem.

"No," Scatterblade tightened his grip, but his footing slipped. "No, fraggit!"

"Let go," she begged weakly, "keep Silver safe. I'll be okay."

"No," he grunted, reestablishing his footing. "Don't make me do that..."

"Blade," she didn't have it in her to argue anymore. Instead, she did her best to help her mate despite the continued shorts in her frame and growing weakness.

The mud slid beneath them and Scatterblade's grip slackened with the shocks. "Fraggit!" He held onto Silverdust but his grip on Illusory faltered.

"Ah'll be okay," she promised as she slid from his grip. She didn't have enough strength even to try anymore and was quickly swept away.

"No..." He started shaking, fighting his urge to jump in after her. 'Lu, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, be okay.'

'Ah'll be...' her words cut short as another arc of electricity lit the darkness around her.

He slammed his fist into the wall. ::Prowl, you got an ETA on when this damn storm is gonna end?:: He was past decorum and politeness.

::All resources depict the storm lasting another local hour, however by the rate of perspiration I can predict it slowing enough to regroup in approximately twenty-six minutes.::

Scatterblade groaned. ::Can you see Illusory on your scanners? I lost her.::

::My scanners are not picking her up. However, they are not as strong as Hound's, and this weather is limiting my range.::

"Damn it," he growled. ::Can anybody see her? She's in emergency stasis. I can't contact her.::

::What happened?:: Knockout demanded, his tone strained.

::She kept shorting. I lost my grip,:: his tone was defensive, his distress evident.

::Slag...water got in her systems.:: The medic was regretting overlooking the small punctures in her protoform.

::We will locate her when the storm eases.:: Prowl assured them.

Scatterblade grunted in reply.

When the storm began to lift, the water torrents eased to a quick trickle.

::Everyone check in!:: Prowl ordered.

::Hound here with Vance. We're safe, undamaged.::

::Knockout; no idea where I am at the moment; gonna take a look around.::

::Mirage checking in with human Myra in my care.::

::Blurr, I have both humans; Rex and Charlie.::

::I'm with Jazz,:: Blindside chimed in.

::Scatterblade; I have Silverdust.:: The frontliner pushed his frustration aside. ::Illusory is still unaccounted for.::

::Arcee is here with me. Has anyone seen the human Billy?:: Prowl called.

There was a resounding 'no' from everyone, ending the roll-call.

::Let's regroup and search for our missing team mates.::

Scatterblade released his grip on the cliff and slid down the mud, Silverdust cradled to his chassis. The little femme clicked unhappily. Blurr was the first to appear, bringing Charlie and Rex back to the destroyed camp.

"Blade," Charlie stumbled toward him after being let down, latching onto his leg. "We'll find her. It'll be okay."

The mech was unsteady on his feet, but he focused on the little femme in his arms, trying to reassure her of the very same thing.

Rex headed to the edge of the clearing, trying to see where the water had carried the femme. "The water went this way, if she didn't struggle, she would have gone with the flow."

"Then let's go," Charlie started to trudge through the muck and debris.

Scatterblade stopped her. "Would you please watch, Silver? I want everyone else to stay in one spot. Please."

His distress tore at her and Charlie couldn't deny his request. "Okay. I will."

Silverdust latched onto Charlie, unhappy with the panic in her mech creator's tone.

Vance grabbed Rex's arm as the man started into the woods. "You stay too. You're still recovering."

He looked like he would argue, but sagged and nodded. "Right." He went to stand beside Charlie. She shivered a few times as the wind came through but for the most part kept Silverdust's hand in hers while they waited for news. The sparkling looked into the trees worriedly.

Arcee came to sit with Rex, Charlie, and Silverdust, shielding them from most of the wind and some of the remaining rain.

"Thank you," Charlie offered her a smile to help cheer the chill of their predicament.

Blindside and Jazz soon joined the group in the clearing, and the pirate opted to join the search. He had gotten the family this far after all, and it seemed like a bad time to stop helping. Jazz was gone again almost before they got there, meeting Prowl on his way out. Arcee was banged up, but nothing serious and Prowl himself was so covered in mud he looked like an entirely different mech.

"I will run hub, report anything you find," Prowl ordered.

They began searching, scanners on high for any signs of life.


	22. Chapter 22

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Two~*~

Day 343

The search went on past the worst of the storm, and the sun began rising before there was a sign of either of the two missing teammates.

::Ah got tracks!:: Jazz announced. ::'Blade, can ya reach her?::

Scatterblade's attempt was desperate and at first devoid of any real thoughts, just a longing and a desperate need to find her. When he could focus his processor, he called out to her. There was a presence at the other end, but little else.

::I'm not getting much, but she's there,:: he reported. He hurried to where Jazz found the tracks, looking for anything that might have been missed. It felt like a fool's errand; neither Jazz nor Mirage were green or incompetent.

They tracked the path the femme had taken. Her balance was clearly off, her steps were all over the place, and a few spots marked where she had fallen.

Blindside followed to the side of the trail and ahead of the group, careful not to mar the tracks. Scatterblade quickened his pace past the spots where the femme had fallen, trying not to see them at all. He had let her fall and he shouldn't have. His hurry made him the first to spot the pathetic looking frame doubled over leaning against a tree, shivering and caked in mud and other forest debris.

"Lu!" He bounded to her. ::I found her!:: "Lu, can you hear me? Please, Lu, wake up." He began brushing the mud and pulling foliage from her.

The femme didn't respond immediately but when she did it was sluggish. "Blade?" She groped blindly for him, her optics dark.

Scatterblade pulled her close and continued to sweep the mud from her. "I'm here. Are you damaged?"

"Yes," she said slowly, grabbing him uncertainly. "Can't see, can't feel..." a small spark crawled across her plating where there was no mud.

For a second the mech considered keeping the uncomfortable insulation. Then he lifted her from the ground. "We'll look at it when we get back to camp," he reassured her.

"Where's Silverdust? Are Charlie and Rex okay?" She held onto him as best she could.

"They're fine."

The others continued the search for Billy; Jazz, and Blindside following Scatterblade back to camp to ensure they arrived in one piece.

"Ah'm gonna meet up with K.O., make sure he gets back." Jazz said.

Scatterblade nodded.

"Are you okay?" Illusory kept talking the whole way back, repeating several questions.

Scatterblade was patient with her, willing to go through the whole thing now that she was safely in his arms. Though that first question was one he didn't entirely know the answer to. He was aware that he would be okay at some later date, but right that breem he was having a hard time keeping his anxieties on his side of their bond.

Rex nudged Charlie when he spotted the others returning. "They're back."

Charlie had to grip Rex tightly to make sure she didn't go bounding toward them. The way Scatterblade carried Illusory worried her. Something other than the obvious was wrong. Rex held Charlie and the sparkling that was wiggling to run to her creators. "It's okay," he promised them both.

Scatterblade hurried, as much as he was able, to the humans and his sparkling.

"Lu, are you okay?" Charlie couldn't keep herself still any longer, and she broke free from Rex to see the femme.

Scatterblade laid her on the ground and knelt beside her.

"Charlie?" She started reaching for the human but stopped in fear she might accidentally hurt her. "Don't get too close," she warned before another spark crawled over her frame.

The redhead stopped short. "Are you okay?" She repeated.

"J-just some water," the femme stuttered, her voice still slow and sluggish.

"Sure," Charlie shook her head. "We've got to get her somewhere dry."

"I'll go find something," Blindside was running off as he spoke.

Jazz and Knockout returned to the camp soon after Blindside ran off. The medic was quick to scan the femme, then stood back from her with a scowl on his face. "We're going to have to remove her armor," he looked up at the sky still drenching them all with water. "But not until we can stop further water damage."

"We'll wait it out," Scatterblade said, lifting Illusory so they could keep moving, find a drier place to rest.

The femme was all but dead weight in his arms. She would talk occasionally but was starting not to make sense, or referring to things long since passed as if they were current events. Jazz tried talking with her, just to keep her alert but at one point she asked who he was and didn't seem to know his designation at all.

Scatterblade sent a ping to Blindside. ::Find anything?:: His patience was spent, and the confusion his femme was feeling was starting to seep into him. The discomfort of confusion and anxiety was unnerving.

::We'll call you,:: the pirate promised, all too willing to bite back.

Scatterblade started to feel numb as their situation sank deeper into his processor. Maybe he should have taken his family and left; should have joined Prime and the others to find refuge among the stars. Charlie and Rex were alive. That's all that mattered, even if they would have never seen them again. The mech vented heavily. An idea came to him, and he turned on some fans to help dry Illusory's frame.

It became a team effort to find a suitably dry location for the femme when it was determined that Billy was lost in the landslide. Prowl's statistics determined a high probability that the man had not survived and the others had to accept the facts begrudgingly. Hound gathered the remaining humans and was keeping them warm and dry in his alt mode.

"We should think about building something a little more durable," the mech commented, trying to avoid the stress of what was happening.

"Good plan. First, let's get to higher ground. Then we can bring some trees down," Charlie suggested, gladly latching onto the current topic instead of wondering if Billy was still out there somewhere.

"I saw some old wood that would do well, the less we cut down, the better hidden we will be." Hound continued.

"Camouflage will be the priority," Mirage added.

Prowl listened, silently weighing their needs for decent shelter against their likelihood of being found. Arcee leaned heavily against the mech that had become all but the commander in their group. Still, she wasn't about to complain about her aches; she was whole and sound. "Is she going to make it?" She asked Prowl quietly.

"I am no medic," he stated emptily, refusing to comment one way or the other.

Scatterblade tried to block out the murmurs; plans and otherwise. He was trying to reach Illusory over their bond without frightening her or sending her memories into a further scramble. Even internally her thoughts seemed little more than repetitive nonsense. The one thing that made sense was a repeated thought; 'I can't see, I can't feel,' and the rising panic attached to it.

'We'll fix it, I promise. Use mine.' He sent her images of Charlie, Rex, and Silverdust, all safe and protected. 'Just use mine.' It was the only thing he could do for her until they found a drier place.

She latched onto the images, though confusion filled her even more. She knew there was an attachment to the organic creatures and that she loved the sparkling very much but couldn't place a name and that frightened her. Scatterblade supplied what information she lacked with patience, finding the chore relieving despite the pain. She took in the information like fuel to empty tanks.

'What's wrong?' She asked softly as if to herself. 'Why is everything broken?'

'You were having some trouble before, but the flood added to it. We'll get it fixed. Just relax.'

'What's uh flood?'

He sent her the image of just a few hours ago.

'That looks like fun, we should try it.' She snickered. 'Why can't Ah move?'

The mech nearly recoiled at the thought. He never wanted to let her 'ride' water again. 'You're injured. Your internal injuries were aggravated, and everything is jumbled.' He felt himself gaining control again, simply talking to her again was soothing.

'How did that happen, Ah don't remember.'

Scatterblade's spirits fell. Why did they have to relive this? The last thing he wanted was to have to spell it out. It's for her, to help her remember. Just relax. He swallowed his regret at having to bring this up. 'We were captured. You were keeping Silver safe and...they removed your armor.'

'Captured? By who? Why?'

He vented once again and delved into their capture. The telling ended up backtracking, and he told her how they had met and lived with Charlie and the whole mess that had started their run for survival. He was nearly back to when Swindle attacked the foundry when Blindside called.

::Found a spot. I'll come show you the way,:: he said over the general comm.

Illusory was silent with shock at the telling and all the emotions attached. 'Why do we keep going?' She asked finally, sounding completely defeated. 'We've lost everythin',' she continued, grief welling inside her all over again.

The exhaustion was contagious, but Scatterblade stubbornly fought against it. 'We started fresh once, we have proved it is possible. We'll do it again. You love them. This is home.'

She seemed to lose the momentary grip on reality and descended once more into gibberish and long bouts of silence.

"I don't expect I would get a good report if I asked how she's doing, would I?" Knockout asked grimly.

Scatterblade only shook his head and pulled the femme closer.

"Hey," Blindside slid up to the group. "If you want to get dry, follow me."

Scatterblade stood and began the hike. Knockout followed quickly behind the frontliner, eager to get started.

The rest of the group followed at their own pace, whether due to injury or debris build up. It had taken another hour or so before they arrived.

Knockout hardly allowed Scatterblade to walk out of the rain and put the femme down before he started working at her plating, pulling it off to get water away from her sensitive systems. "Blindside, get to work," he ordered in his default Decepticon medic tone.

The pirate followed the order readily and helped ease the femme down. Cleaning her was first, linking up next. Untangling the mess...that would hopefully be the last of it. What they found under the armor panels was disturbing; char marks where electricity had burned though her protoform, massive corrosion caused by the mix of water and electrical current, and milky pools of mixed fluid gathered in the dips and shallows of her protoform.

"Be careful linking in," Knockout warned, "don't want to fry yourself trying to fix her."

"That's why I'm drying it, dumbaft," he grumbled as he focused on avoiding spots that would do just that.

There was only a warning rumble from Knockout, far too focused on the task at hand to deal with a foul temper.

Silverdust escaped her current caretakers and bounded to her creators with an unhappy trill.

"Keep her back!" Knockout snapped, not even flinching from the older femme's frame.

Scatterblade easily scooped her up. "Not yet, Silver. Just watch. Don't touch."

The little femme clicked then snuggled into his embrace, watching the other two mechs work on Illusory.

Knockout kicked up his fans to help dry the femme's protoform, pulling protective mesh away from some of the worst spots so he could start cleaning and replacing parts. He pulled what little he had left from storage, prioritizing what needed repaired first; there just wouldn't be enough to repair everything. Much to his growing dismay, he was missing some rather key components. "Where's a scrap pile when you need one?" He grunted.

"Check mine," Blindside said, pointing to the small pile he had been building since they started. "It's not much..." He warned.

"At this point I would take just about anything." He skimmed the pile, finding some things they needed while still leaving much wanting. "It'll have to do," he vented, then delved into the repairs.

Blindside helped when he could but mostly kept fans running to cool and dry Illusory.

Scatterblade wasn't faring well at his end of the bond. He tried to stay tethered to the physical. The mix of emotions that had started to set themselves in order were stirring once more and he was again caught in the waves of it all. Knockout grumbled while he worked, pulling bad wires and replaced them while trying to avoid the shorts remaining in the nearly dry frame. He got so wrapped up in what he was currently doing he didn't notice the femme's arms start to move around, groping though there was no indication for what. The movement snapped Scatterblade back, like a rubber band, and he took hold of her hand. 'I'm still here,' he told her.

Her vocalizer broke with static as she tried to speak. 'What's happening?' She asked, sounding like she was coming off a substantial overcharge.

'Repairs. You're still injured. Hold still a little longer,' he eased.

'Feel like slag,' she groaned.

Scatterblade's relief was palpable. 'You were laughing earlier, so I'm gonna take this is a good sign. You just rest, and you'll feel better.'

The femme just groaned more.

Knockout worked for some time before the last of the useful scraps had been used. He vented hard, shaking his head at what had to be left undone. "Alright, let's get back to the coding," he said almost as though he were giving up.

"Don't make me start playing Mary Poppins," Scatterblade grinned, finally feeling better.

"Scatter, don't- I don't know what you're talking about, so, no." Blindside shook his head.

Knockout just shook his head and found a port he felt reasonably safe accessing, hoping for the best he started checking her systems one at a time, bringing them up as he went.

Illusory remained silent as the medic continued. 'Blade,' she commented as Knockout began to back out. 'Somethings not right, Ah still can't see.'

"Wait," Scatterblade said, "Check her optics."

"I did," Knockout stated flatly. "Coding is intact, some of the equipment is damaged and, unfortunately, we don't have the parts. Partial ocular input will come back on its own, but that's the best I can do with what we've got." He started affixing her plating. "Looks like you're grounded for the time being femme," he didn't look at anyone while he worked. "Stay out of the weather too. At least until your protoform is healed."

Illusory vented to ease her panic.

"Here," Jazz handed the medic his visor. "Ain't th same as optics, but it'll give visual input."

Knockout examined the thing he always had just assumed was to annoy others by hiding the mech's optics to find it was more than it seemed. "Why do you have something like this?" Knockout asked, but Jazz was already walking away. "Whatever," he grumbled as he set to work linking the device to the femme's input net. He motioned Blindside to keep replacing armor.

Blindside was a little thrown off by the scene, but he followed the order.

'How are you doing?' Scatterblade said.

'Ah dunno' the femme answered nervously. 'Ah've never been blind before.'

'It'll heal,' Scatterblade immediately regretted saying that. 'That didn't come out right. I'm mean- you're not going through this alone.'

'Yeah,' she agreed with a decidedly forced positive sound. Her emotions gave her away though; fear, worry, and barely restrained panic.

"How's that?" Knockout asked after a few breems of work.

"Uh..." her voice was raw, her vocalizer clearly not quite back to normal.

"Try reading the input like logistical data."

"Okay," doing as she was told she started getting an image of her surroundings that was a poor reflection. "It's...there," she said uncertainly.

"Can you make sense of it?" Knockout pressed.

"Y-yes." She said after another moment of adjustment.

"Good. Take it easy until you feel more comfortable with it." He patted her shoulder in what might have been meant to be a comforting gesture, then got up and went to Arcee. "Let's see what you've got, shall we?" He started working before the other femme could protest. "Blindside, get a look at Prowl."

The pirate did so, the hesitation of earlier that day gone. There was no excuse now that everyone was 'fine'.

Scatterblade continued to try to soothe Illusory, encouraging her to take it slowly.

Illusory got to a sitting position but refused to go any further than that. "The world is spinning." She felt like she would fall at any moment and didn't want to hurt anyone accidentally.

"Ease into it," Scatterblade offered, supporting her back and holding her hand.

She was steady enough for a minute, then grabbed tighter to Scatterblade's hand as she tipped to the side like she had been pushed. Mirage had walked up beside them to investigate what was currently happening. His movement had thrown off her entire sense of balance.

"This isn't going to work," the femme vented irritability.

'Just relax. Take your time.' Scatterblade looked to the others trying to find some reassurance in them to back him up. There wasn't much to be found among them.


	23. Chapter 23

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Three~*~

Still Day 343

Charlie stayed with Rex inside Hound's alt mode. She had started to shiver badly, still stuck in wet clothes. Rex pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. "It'll be okay," he promised.

Hound kicked up his internal heat to keep the two humans warm. Vance and Myra had already gotten out to try and make camp for them all.

"I'm okay. I can help," Charlie tried in vain to push away from him, her right arm buckling once more. She wasn't able to use it much at all anymore.

"Stay with me," he asked. He knew Charlie worked hard to keep her mind busy, but he also knew that eventually, she had to rest.

Her facade shattered as she slumped back in her seat. Tears were falling now in earnest, but she kept quiet. Her pride stayed intact; she hated to make a scene. Rex folded her into himself and just held her, willing her to let out everything that had been bottled up. She hummed but still did not give, though her face dripped with tears and her nose ran freely. She clutched his arms around her, a feeling of slipping tingling across her body.

Charlie continued to shiver until she made an odd statement. "It's really hot."

"Hot?" Rex wondered aloud. "Hound will you turn down the heat a bit?"

Charlie tugged at her shirt, so it didn't cling to her skin. The fingers on left hand had an odd blue tinge to them. Her lips, currently in a tight line, also looked discolored. Rex studied the woman, concern flashing through him as he felt her skin. She was still wet with rain, but he was afraid that wasn't all. "Charlie, I don't think you're really hot."

"I can't feel my hand," she whined, holding the mechanical one like she'd hurt it.

"Okay, let's go see Knockout," he opened the door and tugged her out after him. Charlie yelped at the movement, instantly wrapping her arms around herself. She shivered almost violently. Rex froze as she cried out, his heart sinking. "Okay, you stay right here and keep warm, Hound, as hot as you can without causing damage. I am going to get Knockout."

Charlie curled tightly into a ball, tucked against the door.

Scatterblade's head snapped immediately at the commotion. "Rex, what is it?"

"Charlie's not doing so good," the man stated as he caught Knockout's attention. "I think she got too cold." His voice was steady, firm, that of a soldier in charge, but his eyes showed fear.

Knockout vented, his frame sagging just a little at yet another patient on his list, but moved quickly just the same. They were all under his care; they depended on him, and unlike before when he was working on the Decepticon side of things, he knew he was appreciated. He just hated knowing he couldn't do his best, that he would sometimes fail just because of their circumstances and would have to face these dependents knowing the truth. 'No pressure,' he told himself sarcastically as he dropped beside Hound to get better access to the woman.

Illusory immediately tried to get up, only managing to make herself dizzy and tangled in her own limbs.

Scatterblade eased her to her feet, supporting her like a crutch the whole way. He did try to get her to sit still, but his fear for the woman didn't let his protest hold.

It took Knockout way too long - in his opinion - to figure out what was going on with Charlie. "Hot liquid, " he ordered of anyone who would listen, "she needs to be dry and warmed."

Vance grabbed one of their rescued canteens and headed out. "I'll get water," he shouted as he went.

Illusory let Scatterblade guide her to where Hound was, slumping to the ground beside him. "Charlie?" She asked nervously.

She was breathing quickly, still curled tightly. Moans escaped her but nothing intelligible.

Knockout scooped the woman up, tuning on specialized equipment in his hands that were intended to keep his hands warm for the comfort of others, to work frozen fuel lines, and to help ease buildup. Here he found he could make a perfect bubble of warm dry air around the woman to bring her temperature up.

Charlie continued to shiver, but soon she only shook softly. She was either unwilling to talk or unable in her condition.

When Vance returned, there was a slight commotion as they warmed it with a few ingredients they had salvaged from their camp.

"Tea," Rex offered.

Knockout put Rex next to Charlie, not comfortable with her internal temperature enough to put her down.

"Hey," Rex cooed, "you need to drink this, okay? It'll help you feel better."

Charlie coaxed her hands open and pulled the cup to her lips. She sputtered at the taste.

"Might not be great, but it's warm and has good stuff in it for you."

"Good stuff? That's bolstering." Knockout snarked.

She tried again, taking slow, small sips. She grimaced at first till her tongue adjusted to the heat and taste.

"That's good," Rex encouraged. "Drink up."

Every few minutes she had to stop. She just didn't have the focus. Her body felt like it was numb and burning as heat was reintroduced to her limbs.

Rex kept encouraging her, rubbing her arms and hugging her close to him.

Once Knockout felt that her internal temperature was staying in a more normal range, he turned the pair back into Hound's care. "Keep her warm until she's responding normally." He scanned all the humans around him, noting various inconsistencies between them all. Idly he wondered who would be next as he headed back to what he was doing.

Scatterblade eased back, turning his focus to his femme. Not that he didn't care; Rex was taking care of her. It was one less trouble to take to spark.

"She's going to be okay, right?" Illusory asked quietly. She knew Knockout wouldn't just walk away if she wasn't going to be okay, but she needed to hear it.

"She'll be fine," Scatterblade said, "Rex will watch her. Just relax."

Rex pulled Charlie into Hound's back seat, then sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm...numb. Tired."

"Yeah, you got chilled. Gonna be okay though."

"Don't go," she mumbled.

"Not going anywhere. Never." He promised. "You just relax."

She pulled Rex close eager to make him practice that promise. He happily curled closer to her, wanting this endless night just to be over.

Scatterblade kept Illusory still as she tried to adjust to the dizziness and lost sight. The femme would randomly list to the side for no apparent reason. She especially seemed to have a problem when there was a lot of movement around her.

"How did Jazz deal with this?" She growled

Scatterblade vented softly and shook his head. "You need to rest."

"I do not think I can," she mumbled irritably.

"Just try," he settled behind her, "lean on me." Scatterblade gathered Silverdust, already in recharge, and placed her on the femme's lap.

Illusory followed his guidance, then tucked in close to him, assuring herself where Silverdust was before trying to recharge. It didn't take long before the sequence latched onto her exhausted systems and dragged her into deep recharge. With all the emotions assaulting him from his mate finally quelled, Scatterblade relaxed.

Knockout looked over his last patient for the day; Hound needed a few touch ups, but nothing that needed him right that moment. He vented, found a secluded spot and slumped into recharge. Hound maintained his watch on the humans resting in his interior as well as the two settling nearby after having recovered as much of their equipment as they could. Then he looked over the others carefully. It had been a rough several joors, but except for the still missing Billy, they were all here. Mostly. Jazz had yet to come back. Blindside wondered if he should search for Jazz. Excluding their misunderstanding from earlier, he didn't want any of them to get into trouble. They had been dealt enough for one orn and from what he was gathering from this lot - they had had enough over the past several orns to last any single bot a lifetime.

The night finally passed, morning came with a gloomy air, but at least the rain had stopped. Vance stumbled off to hunt while Myra checked on the other two. "I'm going to go get some more water and see what herbs I can find by the river," she told Rex, trying not to wake Charlie.

"Thanks," he whispered back.

Scatterblade had hovered in standby all night, too afraid to fall into a deep recharge in case Illusory might need him. He watched the humans without comment. When Illusory finally did come online, it was far from gently. She screamed at first, flailing wildly as she struggled to make sense of things again. Silverdust squealed as she was tossed from her comfortable spot on Illusory's lap.

Scatterblade's hand shot out and grabbed the sparkling, fully online now. "Lu, it's alright!"

She struggled to figure where up was, stilling herself and venting slowly. "I can't see," she reminded herself quietly. "Logistical perspective..." she vented again. "Where is Silverdust," she asked a touch fearfully. "I threw her, didn't I?"

"I've got her. I think she thought it was a game," Scatterblade handed the femme their sparkling.

Illusory took the small femme and wrapped her against her chest. "I am so sorry," she apologized.

Silverdust just chirped comfortingly

'I have to get this under control or I will hurt someone and if I am lucky it will just be one of the 'bots who can handle it.' She vented again. "Take me outside so I can adjust safely."

Scatterblade lifted the femme to her feet. 'I'm not trying to make light of it. I promise.'

'I know, I am just...I am not sure how to handle this.' She tripped and stumbled following his lead. "Arcee?" she called out uncertainly.

"Yeah?" The other femme answered, moving slowly closer.

"Will you watch Silverdust?"

The other femme was silent, shocked by the request. She looked to Scatterblade for explication.

"Her vision was impaired by the flood," he muttered. "It's okay."

"Oh...of course I'll watch her." She took the little femme happily, a mild look of confusion and awe still on her face.

"Thank you," Illusory offered as they headed out. Scatterblade helped her around, trying to let her adjust and helping her when she stumbled.

Charlie stretched in the back seat of Hound's alt ode, a shudder ran through her. "Rex?"

"Yeah?" He rubbed his hands over her shoulders. "I'm here."

She grabbed his hand. "I'm really scared."

"It's okay, " he promised. "How are you feeling? Can I get you some more tea?"

"No. I just need you to keep talking. Distract me?" She was still trembling, tired and hurting.

"Yeah, course." He looked around for inspiration. "It stopped raining. Illusory left Silverdust with Arcee," he noted what he had just witnessed.

"Finally," she sighed with a smile.

"I don't think Arcee knows what to think. Course she's enjoying playing with Silver, but she kind of looks like Illusory might come after her any second."

"She'll be okay. What happened with Lu?"

"Um, well, I'm not entirely sure. She doesn't seem too steady on her feet. I think she's wearing Jazz's visor."

"I thought that was just decorative," she murmured shivering again.

"So did I. Wonder if it's like sunglasses. Maybe she has some kind of hangover."

"I've seen her with a hangover," Charlie chuckled through the pain, "she barely moves."

"Well, then this isn't that...still looks like it though." He was quiet for a second. "Wait, you saw her with a hangover? Illusory?"

"Long story," she chuckled. "Sides gave her some high grade when she was stressed about Blade." Her smile fell. "I really miss the twins...

Rex groaned sympathetically. "They were good mechs...even if they were worse than troubled teenagers with too much knowledge." He sighed. "Well, I'm sure it was an unusual event. I think Vance is going to start building a barracks soon if we don't stop him."

"Really?" Charlie shuddered. "I like the forest and everything but, I would love to go home."

"Think we all would, but until things get straightened out, we might as well make where we are home. Don't you think?"

Charlie sighed, letting the tension fall. "Yeah. I feel at home with you." Suddenly, she screwed up her face. "I'm sorry, Hound. Really, I'll stop talking if you're not comfortable."

"It's good to hear you talking," the mech said warmly. "You don't bother me at all."

"I'm worrying again." She shook her head and rubbed her neck.

"It's okay," Rex assured her. "How about this, tell me what you want to have here and let me pretend I can give you everything you want."

Charlie giggled and settled deeper against him. "I want a big house. Not like lots of room, big tall ceiling. Like the basement in Cali. And the yard will be circled by trees, a long windbreaker. They'll change colors in the fall, that way we can rake em up and jump in them." She closed her eyes to picture it better. "A tree house in the backyard with a slide and a rope swing. And if I have to dig a creek, I will! It'll run right under the tree house. And we'll have a trampoline. God, I miss trampolines..."

"That sounds fantastic." He hugged her close.

"I want lots of little girls that like to play in the mud," her eyes stung and she titled her head to look up at him.

He was looking at her, pain in his eyes. "Me too," he said. "And I want to sit on the porch and scare off the boys that will flock after them."

Charlie giggled at the image but then registered his look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he assured her. "Just picturing it all."

At first, she thought he was remembering Aiden, and as it crossed her mind, she darkened. Then she went as still as a board, her breath caught in her throat.

"Charlie? It's okay, relax." Alarm shot through him as he stroked her face. "Are you hurting? Do I need to get Knockout?"

She shook her head. "I don't have Aiden..." How could she have forgotten? Even in all the commotion, why had she let herself forget?

Rex just didn't understand. "No, but it's okay...it will be okay."

"The urn... I left his urn..." tears fell again, and she didn't try to keep quiet this time.

"Oh..." he pulled her tight against him. He didn't know what to say. With everything that had happened they were lucky to have each other at this point.

She clung to him just sobbing, everything that they'd been through just compounding on that one thought. She'd lost him twice now.

The irrational thought ran through Rex's mind that he could find the urn and give it back to her, but rationality kicked in and instead he just held her, wishing he could take her pain away. "I wish I could fix this," he whispered to her.

"You can't." It wasn't hateful or ridiculing. It was a weak, defeated tone. She tried to bolster herself, "You're doing just what I need. Just hold me."

"Okay," he agreed. "As long as you want."

Charlie took in shaky breaths to calm down. She just breathed in his embrace, turning to face him the way she wanted to.

He let her settle, then held her close to him. "I love you."

"I love you," she rubbed her cheek against his, pecking his ear.

He hummed happily, nuzzling her hair. A bed, he decided, was the first thing they really needed.

She pressed her nose into his cheek and just nuzzled for several seconds, reveling in the sensation and the chills that ran down her back and legs. He kept rubbing her skin loving her against him and that he could give her comfort.

She gasped at the feeling, the electricity tingling across her. "We need a room," she groaned.

"Yes," he agreed, his voice a few pitches deeper than normal, "we do."

"When it's dry, we'll do that."

"You got it. I'll build us a room." He laughed at how silly it sounded, and even more at how much he meant it.

"I love you," she said, kissing his face again.

"I love you too."

It was at that moment that Myra came tapping on the window. "You guys hungry? Hot food, drinks, good stuff."

Charlie immediately sat up, her cheeks on fire. "Yeah, sounds good," she said her voice chipper but her face turning more and more red.

Rex just laughed. "Caught in the moment."

"Come on love birds," Myra teased.

Charlie continued to blush, but she followed Rex out.

Vance looked up as they approached. "Hey guys. Charlie, how are you feeling?"

"Better," she smiled, her head dipped some as she felt the cool air intensify the heat of her face.

"Good!" He pointed to some rocks that had been arranged around a stone pit with fire burning in it. "Have a seat. Foods almost ready."

Myra handed each of them a warm cup of liquid before sitting down herself.

Charlie took it and sipped on it. "How are you two? I don't remember seeing what happened." She felt awful that she had only thought of Illusory at the time.

"Fine!" Myra said rather cheekily, leering mischievously at the two.

Charlie flinched some at the unexpected jab. She had seen Myra swept away. She was honestly worried.

"No, really. Mirage got to me before anything happened. A few bumps that's all."

"Hound got me before the worst of it," Vance added.

Charlie smiled, "Good. So, you can both stop smirking." Her blush was starting to deepen once again, so she wanted to nip the teasing in the bud. Or at least be the one who started it.

"Just happy you're okay," Myra said, turning away from the couple but not letting her smile leave her face.

Vance just laughed and handed out plates of hot food.

Charlie rolled her eyes. Fighting it wasn't going to help. She didn't want to anyway. She accepted the food and sat close to Rex.

Rex was happy to have her close, glad that for a moment they could breathe. He wondered about what was happening beyond the protection of their shelter that seemed to have many of the bots' attention, especially Knockout, though he made an effort to appear otherwise.


	24. Chapter 24

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Four~*~

Day 344

Blindside wandered back to the others, the trip fruitless. If Jazz didn't want to be found, then it wasn't going to happen.

Hound stretched out, heading toward the exit of their temporary cover. "Hey, see anything interesting?" He asked Blindside as he approached.

"I think I scared some dogs. I think that's what they were. Sniffing a little too close," he shrugged.

"We should patrol the area, see how much human activity happens in this particular area," Prowl stated. "Hound, track whatever you can find. Blurr,"

"On my way!" He was on his feet and nearly gone before Prowl could finish.

"Tight circuit, Blurr. Two-mile radius. We will extend from there."

Blindside went inside and stretched in an out of the way spot. He had just been wandering, hiking, the whole off cycle. Keeping watch and to himself.

"You must be beat," Knockout commented from his own out of the way spot.

"Wasn't too hard. But yeah," he leaned against the wall.

"Rest up; I think you and I are going to take a field trip later this planetary cycle. Need to get some more scrap to keep this lot put together." He paused for a moment, a worried look on his face. "Don't suppose you happen to know anything about refining energon?"

"A little bit. Enough to get by," he grinned, "Couldn't always fuel up off of raids."

"Good. We'll need something soon. Too many of us to go long on what we have."

The pirate nodded. "Let me know when you're ready to leave."

"As soon as you get some recharge."

Blindside didn't argue and let the recharge protocols take over.

When Illusory had had enough of stumbling around - though she had made some decent progress on learning to read her new 'visual' input - she asked Scatterblade to lead her back into the cave. She was far more steady on her feet but still not very confident. The mech complied quickly enough and led her back. Once she was settled, Silverdust came trotting over, Arcee following with a grin on her face.

"Hey, Silver! How'd it go?" He asked Arcee.

"Just fine," the femme promised. "She was good."

"That's good," he said, "Thanks for your help."

"Of course! Anytime." She glanced a little worriedly at Illusory.

"Thank you," the other femme offered softly.

Scatterblade wrapped an arm around Illusory. 'Just relax, love.'

All finally seemed calm and well as the time passed. Knockout and Blindside set out as the sun was starting to go down, heading for the nearest city where they hoped to find a scrap yard they could acquire useful parts. Prowl insisted they have someone with them to watch while they were busy salvaging. Mirage was not thrilled to be volunteered for the job but went without too much complaint.

Blindside felt a little uneasy being separate from Scatterblade. He had come to like Knockout, so that was a plus. Mirage was okay, but he hardly knew the mech. He doubted any of the Autobots knew him well either. Except maybe Jazz. It still bothered him that he hadn't found the saboteur.

The trio trekked far from their camp, arriving at a rather dilapidated, old, and large junk yard that contained every kind of mechanical waste they could imagine. Well, imagine on this backwater planet at any rate.

Mirage sneered distastefully at the place, not liking anything he saw, but set out to post himself where he could keep easy watch.

"Maybe we'll get lucky, and some of our own trash has ended up here," Knockout vented hopelessly. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

Blindside quickly divided the space into grids and gave suggested squares to each of them. Knockout agreed, approving of the efficiency the mech showed. The pirate moved through the junkyard, scanning for replacements and substitutes. He slowly started building his subspace store. Knockout did the same, not very encouraged by what he was finding. His greatest discovery was a small section of paneling from the outside hull of one of the Decepticon invasion ships from the attack on Chicago a few years back. "At least it's something," he mumbled.

Moving to his next grid square, he thought for a moment his scanners picked up something of interest, but it was gone before he could conclude one way or the other.

As they moved along, they grew more and more discouraged. The same movement went across Blindside's scanner. "What was that?"

"Probably some energon spilled on a piece of slag around here sending out odd signals." He wasn't too interested in scanner ghosts.

Blindside didn't see much use in the rest of the yard, so he followed the direction the blip had disappeared. As he followed the illusive reading, something shifted a large unsteady pile of junk that tumbled down around him. He dodged the debris. As he stood, he scanned the spot. "What the frag was that?"

There was just the faintest of faint heat signatures for just the briefest moment before it was gone again.

"Something's..." He muttered and started to pull debris off the pile. A few things seemed to slide away on their own before there was a flash of movement and a small dark form darted away from the far side of the pile.

Blindside dove for the fleeing shape. "Catch it!"

Mirage had been alerted by the junk fall and had already moved to check the situation out when he saw the dark shape take off. At Blindside's call, he intercepted the escaping form, smoothly knocking the smaller form's feet from beneath it, then covering the prone figure with an energon blade to its throat. The pirate rolled to his feet, blaster ready.

Knockout was last to arrive, taking in the scene he held back. "What's happening here?"

Mirage dug his knee deeper into the spinal struts of the 'bot beneath him. "Spy," he almost purred, a touch of thrill going through him at getting to act as he was trained to once more.

"Seriously? You want to screw with a random 'bot? I thought you Autobots thought before you shot."

The dark look Mirage gave was clear that not all Autobots were as tame as Prime had liked to make them appear. "He is a spy," Mirage stated rather slowly as if he expected the other two might understand better if he did.

"A spy? For who?" Knockout prompted. "If he were Autobot, you wouldn't act like this so he must be Decepticon...or Neutral. You think he's reporting back to the humans because if that's the case, by all means, be done with him." Knockout flipped his hand in dismissal of the mysterious mech, but his sharp optics kept watch on Mirage.

Blindside rolled his optics at them both. "Designation, affiliation, now."

The small mech didn't answer at first. "S-s-shadow..." he hissed quietly, "Decepticon..."

"There, you see? Not a human spy." Knockout mocked with a little too much enjoyment.

Blindside took a step back. "How's hiding treating ya?" The question was cold, not wanting to tango with a Decepticon this soon after being free.

"F-f-fine," the little mech hissed, "unt-i-i-il you lot tres-es-pass-s-sed."

Knockout was studying the stranger rather critically. "Let him go; he's nearly empty." His tone was cold, callous, just the way a Decepticon would expect another Decepticon to be.

"Have fun in your hole," Blindside turned and began searching again.

Knockout turned to leave too, keeping one audial to Mirage and 'Shadow'.

"W-wait." He said after a few steps. "Yo-o-ou're a mmmedic..."

"What makes you think that?" Knockout kept his tone uninterested, poking around at the scrap that had fallen.

The small mech made a sound that sounded very distinctly like a dying engine. "Yo-o-ou're s-s-sig s-s-til regi-i-isters."

Knockout hummed as though he hadn't thought of it.

'Shadow' growled. "D-do I ha-a-ave to beg?" This came with more force than anything else the mech had spoken before.

"Well, it is the Decepticon way."

Mirage huffed and got off the mech with more force than was strictly necessary. "This is ridiculous. Quit playing games and do what you are going to do. The others are waiting."

Blindside paid the Decepticon no mind. ::If you're going to off him, do it now. We could use the parts,:: he said to Knockout.

::He would be more of an asset if he chooses to join us.::

::You know anything about him?::

::He was a deep cover spy. Last anything reported of him he had been working with an Autobot Special Ops group that...well, vanished.::

::Cemetry Wind?:: he asked grimly.

::Nobody knows for sure what happened to them.::

The small mech had not moved since Mirage released him. "I..." he vented, rolled to his back - refusing to ask for help with his faceplates in the dirt. "I, ne-e-ed h-hel-l-lp."

::Well, if you think it'll do us good... I've got a cube for him.::

::I won't promise either way. He could be an asset, but he could choose not to be too. I won't leave him like this though.::

"What do I get in return?" Knockout asked hotly.

::Well, aren't you two faced?:: Blindside quipped dryly, then watched the broken Decepticon cautiously.

::He's a run down Decepticon spy using a junkyard for cover. He would suspect if I helped without negotiations and that could end badly for more than just him.::

The mech vented again. "I-i-i kn-n-now where s-s-some things-s-s are..."

"What kind of things?"

"Good th-h-hi-i-ings-s." His voice turned to static.

"Hmm." Knockout pretend to consider for longer than was comfortable. "Give me the coordinates and we will give you some energon." He had already scanned the mech to ensure he would be able to take in energon without any issues. ::If you wouldn't mind, show him what you will give. It will motivate him to 'deal' and we can get to work.::

Blindside shrugged, for show, and pulled out a small cube of energon.

The small mech sat up, with some effort, then pinged in short range broadcast the location to something he had labeled 'stash 9'. "There," he almost pleaded, optics locked on the displayed energon. Blindside knew they wouldn't miss one cube, so he tossed it to him.

There was no grace or pride in the way 'Shadow' gulped down the fuel. He sagged with relief as it raced through his deprived systems, his red optics brightening just a little. From where he stood a few feet off, Mirage looked decidedly unhappy about this exchange.

Knockout moved before the other mech could reassert his frame and processors to their normal duties and began working on the minor injuries the mech had.

"What are you doing?" Shadow demanded as he became aware of Knockout so close to him.

"I am a medic." He stated rather flatly.

"You're a Decepticon medic," he took a moment to log the other mechs around him. "Why do you have an Autobot with you?"

Blindside looked bored with this, though he did look to Mirage rather quickly.

Knockout vented. "There are no Autobots or Decepticons anymore." His voice remained level, though held a hint of that hopelessness he had taken on. "There's just those that are functioning and those that are not. We are going to salvage the things you gave us the location of; they will go towards repairs that are much needed in the small numbers of those that are left. You can join us," at this Mirage huffed loudly, going back to his vigil over the scrap yard, "or you can keep doing..." he looked around distastefully, "this." He finished his work and stood up. "Alright, Blindside let's go get our pay."

The pirate nodded and started toward the junk yard exit. The pair left without any further comment from Shadow. Mirage followed shortly after.

The stash wasn't too far off and what they found was all but a gold mine. Recovered parts from so many fallen drones and some ship parts. There were a few parts that had come from 'bots, but nothing that could be identified.

Blindside gaped. "Wow."

"Yeah..." Knockout agreed. "Gotta wonder if he has all this how he ended up as he was."

The pirate nodded. "We better keep our scanners on high."

With Mirage once again posted on watch, the two mechs gathered the surplus supplies. There was too much for them to carry so they had to sort what was most important and hope when they came back it was still here. Blindside did the best he could with the smaller objects to maximize space. Blindside transformed so that they could bring the supplies in the trunk. Mirage did his best to help haul, though the mech hung back several miles as they headed home. He said he didn't trust that the little spy wasn't following.

"Takes one to know one, does it?" Knockout teased.

Blindside simply grunted. He didn't trust the spy either. Trusting Knockout's judgment was one thing. This was out of his comfort zone.

Mirage didn't respond to Knockout's barb toward him but remained trailing behind. When they arrived back at camp, Knockout immediately started making rounds to complete repairs he hadn't been able to do before. "We need to start building the energon refiner if we intend to continue functioning " he noted as he moved from one minor repair to the next. He avoided Illusory for the time being, the femme still appearing to be in recharge.

Blindside took the statement as a command and began skimming through the schematics he had acquired.

By the time Knockout set to work on Illusory, Mirage had returned with a rather displeased look, though he said nothing to anyone.

Scatterblade stayed near Illusory; the ever-present guide and support. He would glance to Blindside every few moments, just watching as his friend got into his work. He gave Mirage a puzzled look as he passed, but nothing more.

When the medic was done, Illusory could get optical data again, but it was distorted and fractured.

"Keep the visor for now," he suggested, "with any luck, your nanites will heal the remaining damage, and you will be as good as new. Until then, the visor will ease the strain."

"Okay," she agreed. She was too thankful for the improvement - no matter how small - over near complete blindness. She hadn't realized quite how much it had bothered her until there was hope of improving and she was relieved.

Mirage paced their camp several times, examining a few areas here and there before setting out into the surrounding trees with an unheard comment to Hound - who was just returning from one of his patrols.

Knockout put off the spy's actions to old paranoia and didn't bother worrying about it. Instead, he went to see how he could help Blindside with the construction of the refiner.

The pirate was consumed, barely taking in the proximity pings of mechs and humans walking by. He was having difficulty fitting a component to the frame, like a jigsaw puzzle piece that wasn't supposed to go there but he would be slagged if he couldn't make it fit.

"Here," Knockout transformed up one of his grinding tools. It was medical grade but he had used it for far worse things than making a piece fit.

Blindside turned to look at him, unseeing, until a few kliks later. "Yeah. That's perfect. Sorry. I've got blinders on when I focus on something." He chuckled.

"Clearly," Knockout agreed with a grin. "Tell me what I can do to help."

Blindside dove right into instruction, guiding the medic to wires and structural columns to connect or weld. He often spoke aloud, asking for suggestions or tweaking his technique, just to make sure the ex-Decepticon could follow him.

Knockout followed instructions surprisingly well and was equally helpful with his suggestions. The pair made an amazing team - Prowl noted in his observations - and looked to be excelling in their progress. It was enough that everyone else left them to it.

The next couple of days passed quickly with rather constant repetition of Blur, Mirage, and Hound setting patrols, Arcee helping the humans do what they needed to be done to build adequate shelters, and Illusory doing her best to be helpful by monitoring comm lines when Hound was out on patrol. Prowl kept everyone up to date on all available information while planning contingencies for what they would need to do next.

Jazz remained stubbornly absent, but when asked, Prowl simply stated he was maintaining his duties.


	25. Chapter 25

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Five~*~

Day 348

Rex stayed true to his word and set to work with Arcee building a suitable home for the time being, along with a 'real' bed. Of course, Myra and Vance helped too but spent much of their time hunting and gathering herbs and forest foods.

Charlie split her time between Illusory and Silverdust, either talking with the femme or babysitting the little one. At least when she was awake. It seemed as if while everything was happening to their group: the separations, captures and torture, and everything else, there had been a filter or a dam keeping the worst of it from affecting her. Now all the adrenaline was gone, and she slept a lot in the wake of it. She had time to think about what had happened and she woke from nightmares, reliving each torment all over again; losing Aiden, seeing so many friends die, but one scene played out repeatedly no matter how many times she tried to stop it. Those two hours in Creton's office haunted her day and night.

Rex did his best to support Charlie through the worst of it, listening when she needed to talk, just being there when she needed him to be. He tried not to let his problems filter to her and used his time building to deal. It was easier to be strong for her than it was to try and cope with what had happened. At least that was what he thought. He could always be strong for her.

Illusory loved the times when she and Charlie were left to talk. She missed her old friend, though even now she knew this wasn't the same human girl she had known. Nor was she the same femme she had been. So much had changed again that it was a wonder any of them were anything except stark raving mad.

Silverdust was the only one who seemed to think all this was fun. She loved being away with Hound, playing with Charlie and Arcee, trying to hunt down Mirage and Blurr - they even let her find them sometimes - and generally being a bubbly, lively sparkling.

Illusory's paranoia had eased off enough to let the little femme wander and be a youngling like she should be, but there were times it would all come crashing back down on her, though those times were few and getting further between.

That is until Silverdust came back to camp talking - in her rapidly growing vocabulary - about 'black cat'. Illusory's immediate reaction was to fall back to her paranoia and forbid the youngling to be out of her sight, but she tried hard to talk intelligently to the younger femme to get proper answers, none of which eased Illusory's processors.

"Came to see," Silverdust tried to explain. "Just wanted to know why we're here..."

Scatterblade instantly threw out scanners as he asked his own questions. "What happened exactly?" He tried to be calm, masking his anxiety with curiosity.

The young femme beamed at him, spinning and kicking her feet while she talked. "We played!"

Prowl was alerted by the creators' sudden tenseness and came to investigate the cause of their stress. He didn't like what he was hearing.

"He likes to hide a lot. Sometimes I don't find him, but he always finds me."

Illusory was one step shy of a full meltdown. "What does he look like and why doesn't he come an' see us?" Her slipped dialog got Silverdust's attention. She knew her femme creator only talked like that when something was bad. At least that was how she had come to identify the language cadence Illusory sometimes used in highly emotional situations.

"Dunno," she admitted nervously.

"Can we stay near the camp for a little while? Just makes your Momma nervous when you don't have someone with you," the frontliner explained easily.

She looked like she would protest, then had a second thought of it and nodded. "Kay," she agreed. "But when can I go play again?"

"As soon as we find him and see that he is no threat," Prowl stated rather firmly. He was already sending out orders to anyone not currently occupied with something important. "Please describe him, so we know what to look for."

Silverdust looked even less sure now. "Um..."

Scatterblade vented. "Very subtle, Prowl." He smiled for his little femme. "If you have a new friend, I'd like to meet him."

"Okay," she still didn't sound very sure about all this but decided she wanted her creators to meet her friend. "But he hides a lot," she stated again. She thought for a moment before continuing. "He's black," she finally said helpfully, "with eyes like..." she looked around for an example, "like him!" She pointed to where Knockout was still working with Blindside, oblivious to the conversation.

Scatterblade glanced to the to the medic and pirate, working over what Silverdust's description meant. "Thank you, Silver. That was very helpful. Why don't you go play with Charlie? Ask her about Lion King; she'd love that."

The little femme clicked uncertainty but did as she was told.

Illusory was pacing in the small space specifically designed as human free for her general sanity. With her vision still not up to par, it helped knowing there was a space she didn't have to be so cautious about moving. She was doing her best to stay calm but was failing. "You'll find it?" She all but demanded.

Scatterblade joined her and took her hands to help stop her pacing. "Relax. We'll look into it."

"What if..." she vented harshly to try to calm herself. "Okay," she agreed.

"I'll be back. Just talk to me if you're feeling you need to," he wrapped her in his arms smiling reassuringly.

She held onto him tightly, letting her fears flow for a minute before clamping down on them tightly. "Promise?" She asked with a nervous laugh.

He nodded. "You know how close I am. We'll be back." He let her go, reluctantly, and joined Prowl. ::Let's get Mirage and Blurr up to speed.::

::Mirage has already been debriefed on the situation. Hound will update Blurr as soon as he is within range. Jazz is also coming within our patrol space to aid in the search.:: Prowl lead the way out, sharing the search grid he had deemed most likely to be successful.

That last comment surprised him. Where had Jazz been hiding? It had worried him until he had to switch his worrying to Illusory. The panic didn't renew, but his curiosity was piqued.

As they began to search, small clues started to appear that there was definitely another 'bot in the area. What tracks were found were obscured in most places. Where they could be picked out, they appeared to be large feline or canine, but the minor traces of energon dotted here and there made it clear it wasn't organic.

Scatterblade kept his hands on the hilts of his swords as he aided in the search, anxiety still pulsing through him. They were alerted by Mirage's yelp of surprise when the mech stumbled over their target. A black form darted away, bounced off a tree back onto the mech growling and snarling viciously. Scatterblade released the blades and tackled the mech's aggressor to the forest floor. The beast was more than half his size and thrashed wildly sinking teeth and claws wherever they would go.

"Watch it!" Someone shouted, and a new weight joined the fray. It was tense for a few minutes, then the black quadruped fell limp and stopped fighting.

Scatterblade scrambled back to his feet. "What the frag..." He huffed more out of anger and annoyance than pain.

Jazz moved away from the black form now locked in stasis. "Sorry," he shrugged at Scatterblade. "Looked like 'bot was tryin' ta defend itself. Probably don't know we ain't here ta fight." He brushed dirt from his frame. "Ya alright?" He glanced between Mirage and Scatterblade, judging their wounds.

"I'm fine," he said and knelt to look at the black form better. "Anyone recognize this guy?"

"Not one I recognize," Mirage sneered with annoyance.

"Might be reformatted or somethin'. Hard ta tell these days. Have ta look inta him."

"We will wait until we can speak with him first. I would rather not resort to excessive measures unnecessarily." Prowl looked over the small group, sent out a burst signal to the others to let them know the situation had been resolved and to return to regular duties.

"Take him home then?" Jazz asked as he stood up, keeping in the shade of the trees.

"Yes. Scatterblade, if you will grab one set of legs, I will carry the others." Prowl pulled the beast's - who on closer inspection looked far more doggish than feline - front paws up and together, supporting his upper weight. The frontliner almost disagreed, he didn't want this thing anywhere near camp. Or maybe that was Illusory rubbing off on him. Ultimately, he complied and hefted his weight of his given chore.

Illusory jumped to her feet when the mechs appeared on her scanners towing an unknown with them. 'Who is that?' She demanded immediately. 'What is it doing here? Why are you bringing it here?' Her panic was quickly rising to unmanageable levels, and she scrambled to pick up Charlie and Silverdust, doing her best to be gentle about it. Her panic only worsened when she realized she couldn't run - she didn't know where to go and anything beyond camp and the cliff was an absolute unknown to her at the moment.

Charlie hung on for dear life as her center of gravity did cartwheels. "Woah, Lu...careful!" Then she saw the mechs coming back to camp, and it started to make sense.

Scatterblade tried to ease Illusory's fear. 'One at a time. We're getting answers. That's it.'

She backed up until she felt something solid behind her. Her panic was creeping through her systems, her fear freezing her where she stood. 'Get it away!' She all but begged.

"Black Cat!" Silverdust cried out happily, not at all understanding why her friend was so limp, or out in the open for that matter, and not getting why all the adults seemed tense. Illusory held her tighter.

Charlie kept Silverdust's hand in hers to keep her from running off.

Scatterblade did his best to send warm waves washing over their bond. He gave a constant loop of his presence there for her to draw from.

Prowl guided them to a place away from where they generally recharged, but that offered some cover.

Blindside finally looked up from working on the refiner. "What's going on?" He didn't exactly ask anyone in particular, just a confused mumble.

"Weren't you listening at all?" Knockout asked with an air of knowing. "It's our local stalker. Seems they found him." He glanced around the camp to see what everyone was doing. "Should probably give the high-strung femme a sedative until the others decided what's going on." He vented. "Be right back, don't get too lost in your work."

Blindside gave the medic a sideways glance and rolled his optics. "Whatever..."

Even as Knockout was approaching Illusory, Prowl was giving the order for Jazz to bring the quadruped back online with limited motion so he could not attack again.

Scatterblade watched the black mech diligently, ready to act if he so much as twitched in the wrong direction.

The quadruped's first movement was all four legs twitching at once - what would have been a rather powerful leap had he been able to get to his feet and to have put any power behind it. Seemingly unaware of his immobility the mech continued to twitch, hissing and growing with impotent rage at his current condition.

"Stay calm," Prowl advised the mech. "We will cause you no harm; we only want to ask a few questions."

"I will not talk to Autobots!" The mech barked angrily.

Scatterblade vented harshly. "That's kinda all you have left."

"No!" He barked again, his whole body twitching with anger. "I will not believe you!" He growled.

Behind them, beyond the quadruped's vision, Knockout was trying to convince Illusory even to let him near enough to touch her, let alone sedate her. He knew he had to get her to calm down, but also knew that he was not going to succeed at that with her in this state. "Hey 'Blade, think I could use you over here."

The beast was suddenly alert at the medic's voice, his focus shifting beyond those immediately surrounding him.

Scatterblade's optics flicked from Knockout to the mech, then he grinned. "Tell you what, I'll switch you spots."

Knockout looked over to where the others were, shrugged, scanned the femme one more time for good measure, then went to see what use he could be in the Autobots' version of interrogation.

"You," the mech growled softly, "are Decepticon." He looked at those surrounding him again. "You are a prisoner?"

Knockout rolled his optics. "Worse, I think. I'm their medic." He crouched by the mech, scanning him and not liking anything he saw. "They are all but at my beck and call," he said smoothly. "And you are?"

"Not going to be a pet of Autobots!" He growled again.

Scatterblade stood and walked away from all this. Blindside watched, having paused to rest his optics and processor, lazily watching from his spot at the refiner.

"Pet? That's good," Knockout hummed. "Then what will you be? Scrap? We could certainly use some of that. There's plenty of fixing needing to be done and not enough parts to go around."

"I am not scrap! I still function!"

"Ah...yes, for how much longer though? I'm patient." He rocked back on his heels opening up more space for the mech to see the camp. "Look, honestly I don't need another husk of a mech to look after, but these mechs," he waved to the general populace surrounding them, "they seem to think our race has some kind of chance at survival if we stick together. Seems to be working...so, your choice."

"We will not harm him," Prowl reiterated for Knockout's sake.

"See? Morals..." he shook his head. "So, talk to them, deactivate, I don't really care, just get it over with." At this the medic stood and sauntered away, making a point of scanning everyone he passed as he went back to check on Scatterblade's progress with his mate.

He wasn't getting very far. 'Relax. It's only to help you feel better,' he told her gently, continuing to wash her with warmth.

'Not with that thing still there! What if it attacks?' Her grip on her charges was getting to be aggressive. Silverdust was starting to squirm. 'What if there are others? Then what?' She was shaking with anxiety, still trying to find a reasonable escape.

"Lu, careful," Charlie pleaded gently, one of her arms was caught in the femme's grip, and Charlie tried to yank it free without dislocations.

Scatterblade rested his hands on her arms, gently. "I'll keep an eye on Charlie." Silverdust, at least, could take a little more abuse than Charlie's already fragile body.

Reluctantly she released Charlie into Scatterblade's care but held tight to Silverdust. 'What if we're separated again?' She continued to question every bad possibility that crossed her processors, doing nothing for her panicked state of mind.

'It's alright,' he soothed. He placed Charlie down on the ground. "Stay close?"

Confusion was apparent on her face, but she nodded.

"Is she going to rip my arm off if I get close?" Knockout asked, not really needing an answer. He could read the femme's aggressive state clearly as if it were printed in plain cybertronics on her frame. He vented, deciding he was going to risk his chances not to have her glitch again. "Just a quick pinch," he said as he stepped in to give the sedative.

Scatterblade kept a gentle hand on the femme drawing her focus away from Knockout.

'It'll be fine. We've got this all under control. You just rest, okay?'

She tried to move away but the wall to her back, Scatterblade so close to her and Charlie on the ground nearby, she froze with indecision and Knockout took advantage of the moment. A few kliks later she sat in a total daze, the fear and panic fading onto comfortable numbness.

The quadruped mech watched the whole thing with confused alertness. The femme was a Neutral, the mech an Autobot and the Medic a Decepticon, yet the two enemies were working together to help the femme.

Scatterblade eased her down and lifted Silverdust from the femme's grasp. He set her down beside her femme creator. "Can you watch her?" He asked her, his voice calm and knowing she could use the 'responsibility'.

Silverdust trilled with acceptance of the task, settling close to Illusory.

Charlie leaned against the wall. "What's going on? What's happened now?" Her question was tired and bordered on irritated.

"Found a 'Con and he wasn't happy about being restrained. Illusory was equally unhappy about him being here," he explained with an edge of exhaustion in his voice. Sometimes calming the femme was as physically exhausting as it was mentally.

Knockout scanned them all and checked Scatterblade's scratches. "You'll be okay." He said dismissively as he returned to Blindside.

"Yeah, I know," he waved the mech off before settling down once more beside Illusory.

Silverdust watched Illusory intently, taking her task very seriously.

The quadruped mech looked around the camp again before speaking. "If you really are what you are pretending to be; then you would offer asylum to a mech like myself?"

"Well, that depends on what uh mech like yerself would do if we gave such uh thing." Jazz said, watching the still twitching mech doubtfully. "Ah can't say Ah trust ya much."

"Then the feeling is mutual," he snarled back.

Prowl vented with mild annoyance at Jazz's interjection. "We are working together to keep everyone alive and functional. We are not a militant group and are willing to forsake what alignment anyone has held so long as they are willing to do the same and work towards our common goal."

"Survival," the mech agreed, looking once more to the sedated femme, the protective mech beside her and the bright and eager sparkling watching her. He spotted the human setting among them, and his optics narrowed suspiciously. "You still have your human masters I see."

"Hardly," Mirage scoffed with a deep offense.

"They are refugees as much as any of us." Prowl stated defensively.

"They've lost pretty much all they have too," Jazz added, regret heavy in his tone.

"We will protect all within our group regardless," Prowl added. "Are you going to be a threat?"

The mech didn't answer for a long time, his twitching stopped, and those around him were beginning to wonder if something had gone wrong when he finally spoke again. "I will join...for the sparkling."

"Good uh reason as any," Jazz chuckled.

"What is your designation?" Prowl indicated that Jazz should release the motion lock.

"I am Sidestep," he said as he stretched his now mobile legs and stood. For a quadruped, he was enormous. "I give my alliance to you in honor of protecting the young." He bowed dramatically to Prowl, tucking his tail tight to his leg before sitting and looking expectantly up at the mech.

"Good. It will be a few orns before you will be fully integrated into the job cycle. Take the time to orient yourself here and get to know the others. Use caution around the familial unit and humans. See Knockout for repairs that can be made." With that Prowl dismissed the mech and turned to Jazz, a private meeting between them obviously in the making. Mirage mumbled something unpleasant and headed off to resume his duties.


	26. Chapter 26

I apologize for the long delay! I let the months slip by and hardly noticed. Don't worry. There are MANY chapters prepped and ready to go, and many many more that are not yet prepped. This story has a long way to go and is far from dead. roudyredd and I are still wrighting and are years into this work of art.

Please enjoy!

 ****Mature Content****

* * *

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Six~*~

Still Day 348

Blindside had kept tabs on the conversation with the new mech's arrival, but his thoughts returned as Knockout did. "We should be ready for testing soon."

"Good to hear," the medic said with sincere hope as he settled to work again, then he paused. "What are the chances that this is going to blow up?"

Blindside titled his head in thought. "It only happened once so...good that it won't." He said it like a question and started thinking about where they could lug it to turn it on.

"Oh. That's...encouraging." He vented but set to work anyway. They could find a safe place to set it up when it came time.

Sidestep had slunk off to the edge of the camp and was slowly walking the perimeter of the most used parts, moving towards Scatterblade, Illusory, Silverdust, and Charlie. He glanced at them every few kliks but for the most part seemed more interested in scanning the area he was walking.

Scatterblade leaned back and watched Silverdust for some time. Charlie kept her attention, eager to maintain the peaceful atmosphere. She did glance at the new 'bot every few minutes.

Eventually, he came close enough to be obvious where his attention lay and skirted around Scatterblade to move to the opposite side, watching the mech as he went. When he was satisfied that he was far enough away from Scatterblade, he laid down, stretched comfortably and turned his attention to Silverdust. He gave a small purr-chirping sound, and the little femme spun around to look at him.

"Black cat!" She squeaked happily, jumping to her feet.

Scatterblade simply stayed still, his frame tensed but just watching his sparkling's interaction with the mech.

"Hey- oh..." Charlie stopped chasing after her.

Silverdust didn't hesitate to jump on the mech's head with a happy squeal, and he obligingly rolled to his side with a loud, ground rumbling purr. Sidestep pawed at the small femme but in no way that looked as if it could be harmful or aggressive, until she had had her fun and settled in front of him, chatting away with a mix of words and sparkling noises she had not quite outgrown. Sidestep gave her almost all his attention, his sensitive and mobile audio sensors the only thing that showed he was paying attention to what was going on around him too.

Scatterblade watched, the tension still present. He hadn't decided if he trusted the once Decepticon with his sparkling - but then again, he trusted Knockout. Maybe the quadruped wasn't so bad. Still, it was his sparkling.

Charlie grinned at this exciting interaction, glad that someone could relax around here. "New friend, Silver?"

The sparkling turned to Charlie, a big smile on her face as she ran to the woman and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" She giggled. "Black cat is fun!"

Charlie laughed. "Careful, Silver!"

Silverdust stopped pulling as hard but kept tugging at Charlie until they were in front of the large quadruped. He was easily several times the size of Charlie, if not larger. He was more closely matched to the scale of a large horse than any dog or large cat known to man.

Sidestep studied the human in front of him with uncertain caution.

"Uh, hi," Charlie waved then introduced herself. "I'm kinda Silver's aunt."

The mech flinched. "Aunt?" He almost but not quite hissed. "You're human."

"Yes," she said slowly, "I'm pre-the-world-going-nuts."

Sidestep shook his head. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Silverdust grew bored with the conversation and decided to climb on Sidestep instead. He tolerated the femme with no concern other than to stop her from falling.

"It means I'm from before the humans turned on us," Charlie explained. "Blade and Lu are old friends."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "The humans have always been against us," he said darkly. Then with a quick glance at the mech not sitting too far off he eased his dark expression. "I assume those are the Autobots you conspired with?" The designations were unfamiliar to him.

"Conspired?" Charlie laughed. "They're family. That's Scatterblade and Illusory."

He looked back to the mech and the sedated femme with a little confusion. "They are this one's creators?"

Charlie nodded and picked a comfy spot against a tree. "Silverdust."

Sidestep thought for a while on this. "The femme, Illusory? She is Neutral, isn't she?"

"Yup. She had a contract with the 'Bots, then..." She giggled, "she and 'Blade." Her tone carried mischief and awe, a faraway look on her face, memories of those early days.

"They bonded here? On Earth?" He was astounded by the thought. "I knew the little one was young, but that makes her...less than a vorn old!" He looked over the sparkling crawling on him, a look of awe and wonder on his face.

The red head nodded, still smiling. "Yeah. We were all hoping it'd be the start of something better." The smile drifted and her eyes clouded. "We're still hoping."

He looked utterly dumbfounded for several minutes, looking around the camp with what seemed to be an all new perspective. "An Autobot bonded with a Neutral, created, and was happily living with humans?" He made it sound like the most unbelievable thing.

"Yeah. But...yeah. Thing's changed," she shrugged and tried to keep smiling.

"I suppose they have," he vented then turned his attention back to Charlie. "You do not act like a soldier," he pointed out.

"I'm not," she admitted. "I'm along for the ride."

"When you say it like that, sounds like we kidnapped you," Scatterblade murmured. He hadn't stopped listening and watching out for the two femmes.

"No! Of course not. It's just that... I'm not really cut out for this."

Scatterblade looked down and cycled air through his systems. "I'm so sorry you're in this mess."

Charlie frowned. "I'm not." She fidgeted as she spoke. "It's been tough, but I'm where I need to be."

Sidestep looked uncertainly from the mech to the human, then to the sparkling now wrestling with his tail, then vented. "It seems we all end up where we are most needed to be," there was weariness in his voice, but it came with a satisfied purr as well.

"Where did you come from?" Charlie asked.

"So many places, I can't even remember," he admitted. "Most recently I came from a wrecked ship a few solar cycles from here. Met a familiar spark in a parts yard who mentioned a group of refugees - you lot, I would guess – so I came to see what the real situation was and was discovered by a sparkling of all things. Now I am here."

Scatterblade winced. More of them, so beyond repair or aid, hiding in junk yards?

Charlie nodded. "Well. Welcome. We can't offer much, but we could use more 'bots around."

Scatterblade finally relaxed some and nodded. "Silver really likes you," he commented.

"I really like her too," Sidestep purred, finally seeming completely at ease. "I was certain that I would never see another youngling again, let alone a sparkling. It does my spark better than I care to admit." He looked at Scatterblade without suspicion for once. "I promise my spark to protect hers," he stated formally in a way that sounded almost ritualistic and familiar to the mech speaking it.

Scatterblade shuttered his optics. "Thank you," he said sincerely though unsure how to take it. If only Illusory had heard that. Scatterblade then sent the cat's simple message flowing to Illusory. Perhaps when she came out of her stasis, she would be more at ease.

Blindside kept working over the machine, carefully checking and rechecking the device against his schematics. "I think we're good for testing. Just need some raw energon." He sat back on his heels and huffed. "Where are we gonna find raw energon?"

"I still have a few locations that were rich in raw energon that are most likely still intact. Might be a bit of a trip, but worth it if this all works out." Knockout pulled up some maps and shared them with the mech.

"Seriously? Did we use this planet as a depot or something?" It wasn't uncommon, but it didn't seem likely the humans hadn't already found it.

"That's what the 'great' Megatron said." He shrugged, not really caring about the fine details of it all.

Blindside's mouth fell open. "No slag? Huh." He stood and stretched. "Let's get this covered, just in case the planet goes nuts again and fries our work."

"That would be our luck, wouldn't it?" Still, the medic helped find enough material to protect the device from the weather.

By this time Prowl had finished his meeting with Jazz and returned to whatever it was he spent most of his day doing, Jazz once more gone. Blurr had come back and looked to the new mech before settling down for recharge. Hound had come from his post monitoring comms, and Mirage had checked in and set off for another patrol. Arcee had returned with the other humans, and they all inspected the new mech from a distance.

Rex came to Charlie the moment he spotted her. "Hey, love. How's it going?"

Charlie hugged him tightly. "I'm good. Feeling a little antsy, but I'm good."

"Good, good. Housing is coming along, should be done in the next day or so." He looked at Sidestep, trying hard not to look suspicious. "So you're the new guy, huh?"

Sidestep narrowed his eyes at the new human. "And you are a soldier," he growled.

"I was, once. Then my own government tried to kill me and those I love. Now I'm here and happily so."

The mech was stunned by Rex's bluntness. "Your kind turned against you?"

Rex gave a look that said there were technicalities and loopholes. "Yeah. I chose to stand with my brothers in arms - the bots - who had done nothing to deserve what they were getting and ended up on the receiving end myself. No, I don't regret it one bit, if you were going to ask. I still think everything that happened was wrong and stand by that. How about you?"

Sidestep vented. "I am here because of choices made. I believe this is where I should be."

"So we're good then?"

"I mean you no harm so long as you do me none."

"Great! Welcome to the ragtag team we got going."

Charlie chuckled at the rough start. "We'll let you rest," Charlie said tugging on Rex's arm. She wanted some time with him.

Rex nodded to the mech, Sidestep nodded back, and Rex happily followed Charlie away.

"Let's go hiking," she almost whined. "I really want to move." She spoke as though she were to continue but was having trouble with the right words.

"Sure!" He could sympathize with her. "I saw a deer path over this way; let's see where it goes."

Charlie nodded and hopped around him so she could hold his right hand with her left. The man laughed at her eagerness and led the way.

"What did you see today?" It wasn't an unusual question. She was always asking him. Maybe she kept hoping for news about what was going on. Had anyone heard of others? Seen any bots or NEST personal? Her mind would go back to Ratchet and Sideswipe, Lennox and Keith. Oh, God...she put Will in with the ones they'd lost. It was painful thinking about everyone else that was still unaccounted for.

"Not a lot," he knew what she was hoping for, but he rarely left the forest. He was far from battle-ready if anything happened. "Some animals, some nice plants. Found a good place Vance and Myra are going to go back to set prey traps."

"That's good." She leaned on him. "Any streams yet?" She had been really hoping for a bath or swim.

"Well, I expect that the deer like to drink," he said as he pushed aside some branches for them to pass, "and since this path seems pretty popular, I think our chances are good."

Charlie brightened and for a few moments, just enjoyed the quiet.

Rex stopped for a moment, just listening. "Hear that?" He asked with a smile. There was a faint, distinct sound of water falling into a pool.

"Come on!" She squealed and tugged on his arm.

Rex laughed and followed her lead. It was a short sprint to a small waterfall and a clear pool of water that shimmered in the light. It was tucked in by ferns and trees making it a very out of the way and secluded place where people rarely - if at all - had come.

"It's beautiful," she grinned widely, stepping over to the edge of the pool and slipping off her shoes. She settled down and dipped in her feet, then gasped and laughed. "It's cold!" She rolled up her jeans and slid in a little deeper.

Rex watched her for a few minutes before following. These were the moments he cherished the most. He stepped in carefully, doing his best to look like he didn't notice the chill. It wasn't terrible, but it was far from warm.

"I wonder how deep it is?" She glanced at him and bit her bottom lip.

He stepped forward until the water was to his knees then tried looking into the deeper parts. "Hard to tell, it's so clear!"

She grinned more and joined him. "Want to get in?" She asked, her eyes shining, the excitement just pouring off of her.

He debated for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, that would be nice."

Charlie climbed out and started to tug off her jeans. Rex followed, pulling his shirt off as he walked. She slipped off her shirt and stood for a moment in just her undergarments before she tiptoed back to the pool.

Rex was quick to follow her, pulling her against him for a hug and a kiss before he jumped into the deeper waters. She laughed brightly before jumping in after him. She came up gasping and laughing and grabbed hold of him. Rex held her tight to him, smiling brightly.

Despite the chill of the water, his body was warm, and Charlie clung to that warmth, reaching up for his lips she kissed him. First his lips, then his neck, then his cheeks. Her excitement was so high she had to reign herself in so she wouldn't hurt him accidently.

"It's been a while," he whispered in her ear, laying soft kisses anywhere he could reach.

"Too long," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. She relished his touch and kisses.

He pulled her up, supporting her weight and laying kisses on her collarbone, his body trembling with his eagerness. She gasped at the touch, and her hands searched out his hair. She kissed his head, holding it gently with both hands. Wrapping one arm around her, Rex let his other hand wander lower, brushing against the small of her back, then further, touching and caressing every sensitive spot he found.

Charlie gasped, and her eyes shot open. She thrashed and shoved against him. She fell into the water and pushed herself back up to the surface.

Rex helped her back to the surface. "Sorry," he said softly, unsure of what he had done wrong other than being too eager.

When she had her breath back, she stuttered. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know- um..." She trembled. "You're fine. It's not you. I..." What had stopped her? She was feeling fantastic until...his touch. It was too familiar. Creton's office, familiar. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill the mood." She shivered once but continued to hang onto him.

"It's okay, love. I shouldn't have." He held onto her, still trembling with desire but not willing to try again.

"No. No, sweetie. I want to. I really do. We'll just work past this; slowly." She kissed him.

"Of course," he agreed, some of the tension leaving him. "Your pace, I will follow." He began kissing her again, slowly, teasingly.

She melted into the embrace, giving into the touch. He moaned lowly, indulging in her willingness but not moving further. He kissed and nipped her ears, neck, and shoulders. Her whole body tingled with excitement, and she leaned her head back, partly to gasp for breath and to allow him access to her collarbone and chest. He accepted the invitation eagerly, breathing in her scent and reminding himself to keep it slow.

Her sounds were soft and breathy. She felt like she was pushing against something. Like a door that she knew she shouldn't open. It took her several minutes to realize what she was fighting; her fear. It was misplaced. She was afraid of this. No, of those memories. Not him. Not Rex. She had faith in him, trusted him. She shouldn't be keeping him out. Still, that fear lingered.

Her body was tense, but she kept holding him, dipping her chin to rest on his head, then kissing it. You're not scared of him, she told herself over and over.

He kept himself from pushing on, desperately wanting to but unwilling to push Charlie before she was ready. He whispered softly to her between kisses, "I love you. I will always love you. I will never hurt you."

"I know. I love you. I know." She said to herself over and over, hoping to chip the fear away. She ran her hands through his hair. Oh, she loved his hair. Just having the different contact from her nightmares seemed to be helping. "I love you." She kissed him deeply, her hands gently holding his head.

He groaned longingly into the kiss, running one hand through her hair and rubbing her back with the other. 'Slowly,' he told himself over and over. She sought out his tongue. The feeling sent new tinglings all over her skin. He explored her mouth with all the interest of his desire for her.

She moaned against the kiss, eagerly pulling him closer. This is safe. This is beautiful. She smiled into the kiss. "I love you, Rex. I trust you."

"Good," he breathed softly, "I love you." He dared move his hand a little lower, slowly so she could tell him to stop.

The tension in her body grew, but she stayed her hand. Charlie tried to relax, easing into the good feeling.

"I won't go any further until you tell me you are ready," he promised, kissing her again, softly but with deep passion.

She melted into the attention. "I think I am," she said, blinking herself to clarity. She nodded. "I love you. I am healing, and I don't want this to be tainted. I won't let it."

He let his hand drift, brushing the same spots as before though lower and accompanied by words of love.

Charlie trembled and clutched to him. "I love you." She let her words and his chip again at her fear.

He kept moving, feeling each second that he couldn't possibly wait for another, but did for Charlie's sake. His hand came around her hip, then slid down, following the gentle slope of her stomach down between her legs. He waited for her to either reject the intimate touch or encourage him further. This was the last of his reserve, if she did not tell him no now, he was almost certain he wouldn't be able to hold back.

Charlie gasped and froze, but she didn't speak. Waves of heat flooded her, and icy cold followed. It wasn't unpleasant. The images that flashed through her mind were. She pushed it back, repeated to herself over and over that she loved him, that she didn't need to fear him. "It's okay."

He moved his hand slowly, looking into her eyes as he did, wanting her to see him, to remember him.

She smiled despite the emotions and raging feelings. "I love you." Then she laughed. "Tell me when you need to me stop repeating myself."

"Never," he said with a smile. He brought her closer to him rubbing against her. "You are sure?" He asked one last time.

She took another deep breath. "I'm safe. I'm sure." She kissed him once more.

With those words, his restraint crumbled. In a few quick movements, her underwear was gone, and he was pressing into her, moving slowly and with great care. She still felt tense, but the movement was welcoming. She followed his lead and moved with him. Keeping his pace slow and purposeful he was able to draw out their pleasure until they were both gasping and shaking with need.

Charlie was barely aware of the sloshing water. She almost wondered if they needed to be quiet, but she wasn't worried about secrecy. "Rex," she moaned, her breath catching with intensity.

Hearing her speak his name was pure bliss to him. He couldn't hold back any longer and picked up the pace. She gasped now, unable to keep quiet. She whispered to him, words of encouragement, love, his name. It was rolling over her and spreading through her body. When he finally climaxed, he almost lost his footing, but he managed to keep them above water. Charlie clung to him as her orgasm wracked her body, gasping for breath as each tremor pulsed through her.

It took a few minutes for his breath to come back. His smile refused to fade as he held onto her. "You okay?" He asked, stroking her back gently.

She practically melted into his arms, her body too shaken. "Yes. I am." She smiled broadly, tears coming to her eyes.

"I love you," he assured her again carrying her back over to the edge of the water where they could rest together.

Charlie leaned on him eager just be close to him. They lay in the cool water together for a long time before Rex decided they should head back. "They'll come looking for us if we're gone much longer."

"Well, I guess we should get dressed," she laughed.

"Oh, if we must," he chuckled, moving to get out of the water.

Charlie grabbed his wrist and pulled him down for another kiss. He stumbled a little, but leaned into the kiss willingly, then helped her out of the water. It didn't take long for the water to dry but it did take a while to retrieve clothes and put them on. She was just so distracted by his lips. Rex sure didn't make the process any easier, grabbing Charlie at every turn just to touch or kiss, he couldn't get enough. She laughed at him, pushing him away then pulling him closer. Even before they reached the edge of camp, Charlie's face was beat red.

"It's a good thing our place will be done soon..." he whispered in her ear. "I don't think we are going to fool anyone."

As if on cue, Myra appeared in front of them with a knowing smile. "Ready for dinner?"

Charlie giggled and laughed outright at the woman's question. She quickly composed herself and nodded, "Yes."

"Good," she winked at them, "come on."

Charlie laughed into her hands, again pushing down the giggling. Rex nudged her gently as they followed Myra back to where Vance was finishing up their meal.

"Have a nice walk?" Vance asked when he spotted the couple.

"Wonderful," Charlie grinned. It wasn't occurring to her to be embarrassed. She was too happy.

They sat and ate with a good mood shared between them.


	27. Chapter 27

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Seven~*~

Day 350

Blindside moved without talking, lost in his processes. They had been traveling for some time en route to the energon deposit. Hound and Prowl had accompanied them on this run. Prowl hadn't liked the idea of them going so far but weighed against their need for energon decided that he would come as protection. Hound was a great scout and knew a lot more than most of them about natural terrain, plus the added bonus of him being able to carry more.

It was an exhaustive trip to the mine; it was one that had been started but abandoned by Megatron years before. It wasn't rich in energon, but there was more than enough for their current needs. Blindside led the way back, grateful to be moving. Being in the open was too much for him. He kept his scanners on high just out of habit. Knockout followed closely while Prowl and Hound held back some distance.

The pirate grunted, annoyed. ::We really should stick together.::

::We become an easy target if we stay too tightly grouped,:: Prowl pointed out.

Blindside grunted once more. As they moved, he grew more agitated and tense. That was when he heard the engines. ::Disappear, now!:: He broadcast what appeared on his scanners to the mechs. A ship was heading inbound.

Hound vanished almost instantly, not hesitating to pull off the road and find thick cover nearby. Prowl followed not much after, finding a more accessible place for his less than all terrain alt mode. Knockout took off, letting his engine do the work and going for distance rather than cover.

Blindside rushed ahead alongside the medic. He knew those engines too fragging well. ::Does anyone have optics on them?::

::Scanners only,:: Prowl commed.

::Nothing that I can see,:: Knockout added.

::I've got visual,:: Hound called, ::too far for details yet.::

Blindside pushed harder. ::Keep moving. Draw them away from the others.::

::What do you know about this ship?:: Prowl asked.

::Lockdown stole a Knight's ship. It's not necessarily weaponized, but he has ships that'll blow sky high. I'm betting his trophy case is still with Prime, so that means he doesn't have his stolen weapons,:: he said quickly.

::What do you suppose he is looking for?:: Knockout asked, his snark covering rising dread.

::We did just steal back three trophies...:: Blindside pointed out.

::Oh...:: Knockout kept speeding on, directing himself away from their camp.

Hound remained where he was, masking his spark signature.

Prowl tried to work up their best options.

Blindside took a few kliks to decide and even after he settled, he wasn't thrilled with the plan. ::Anyone wanna be bait with me?::

::What is your plan?:: Prowl asked.

::I don't do 'bait',:: Knockout warned.

Blindside almost chuckled at the Decepticon.

::Hit 'em with raw energon. A few bricks should blow a hole through their engines, right?::

::A few bricks of raw energon would do severe damage,:: Prowl agreed.

::Severe damage? That could blow the ship and everything around it up!:: Knockout warned. ::It is too unpredictable.::

::That's Prowl's line,:: Hound commented with a slight laugh.

::Okay, half then,:: Blindside said sarcastically, though it dropped quickly, ::We don't need Lockdown on our tails.::

::Agreed. I will accompany you,:: Prowl offered. ::Hound should return to camp with his cargo; Knockout as well. We cannot risk losing our only medic.::

::Sounds great to me.:: Knockout agreed.

::Yeah,:: Hound seemed less agreeable but wasn't going to argue.

::We hit it, and we run.:: He oversimplified the plan, but that was all he had. Hit it hard then run like hell. ::I'll get his attention. You get the flank.::

::The plan is acceptable,:: Prowl stated, figuring best angles and target spots on the ship.

::We'll see you two back at camp,:: Hound said as he slipped away while maintaining cover.

::Don't get shot!:: Knockout warned, real concern touching his tone.

::Not really my style, Red.:: Blindside spun his tires, flipping around to barrel toward the ship. He opened up his comm to a frequency he hoped never to use again. ::Knock knock.::

It wasn't the ship's captain who responded. ::Blindside. Are you still functioning? I thought we threw you overboard eons ago.:: Swindle did well to hide his surprise. Or maybe he wasn't surprised at all.

::Always been hard to kill. Habit of mine. Let's see if I can't break it.::

The ship came into view accompanied by a gunship. It opened fire on the orange mech. He spun, this time from his wheels to his feet, ducking behind a tree for cover and firing back when he could get a line of sight.

Prowl maintained cover, only stepping out once he was confident of his aim. He had worked quick modifications to his primary weapons transformation to accommodate the raw energon he had loaded. He locked his target and fired without a second thought.

Blindside was flung forward as the ship was struck. It didn't immediately explode. It drifted as the dark matter drive imploded. Then it surged outward, a whiplash of fire and metal. He crashed through at least two trees, before stumbling further and sliding to a halt, his limbs splayed about like a rag doll. He still functioned, and he was regretting it. Everything was either damaged or hurting. He watched for a few disorienting kliks as the ship burned and continued to deteriorate.

::Prowl?:: Primus, make the ringing stop... if it didn't, he would have a fragging hard time trying to hear the mech respond.

::Status?:: Prowl replied immediately, his tone stating that the results were far greater than his predictions.

The wreckage rained around him, and he barely dodged the debris. ::I definitely did not get far enough away,:: he groaned, leaning against a large boulder.

::Damage?::

::Nothing I can't fix,:: he winced, then added, ::with a little help.::

::On route, stay put.:: Prowl locked onto the mech's location and headed that way, careful of the debris still raining down while monitoring local band waves for human activity. They would be headed their way very soon, and they needed to be gone long before that.

Blindside groaned as the pain intensified. He tried to pull himself away from the crash, and his systems whined with the effort. As he moved, he became more aware of where the damage lay. Shrapnel embedded deep into his chassis. A rather large piece had pierced his tanks, and he was leaking energon rapidly. His limbs seemed to be intact though barely. His right leg was twisted and threatened to snag on the gnarled forest floor.

Prowl picked his way through the destruction carefully until he reached Blindside. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking by his expression, his paler than usual optics the only thing indicating that he registered this as anything but a typical situation.

"I will call Knockout back. Do not move." He knelt beside the pirate to check the extent of damage and to see where he might be able to administer field dressings that would be of any use.

"No problem." He had a hard time focusing on the mech. "I don't think that thing is done..." He was starting to see movement on his scanners. If anyone had survived, it looked like they were about to emerge.

Prowl focused on the wreckage, putting himself between the injured mech and any possible enemies, scanners on high.

So far nothing stepped through the flames. An alarm started to sound in his systems. "Hey, Prowl. Can you patch my tanks?"

The tactician looked uncertainly back at Blindside. "That is not a skill I am equipped with, however, if you can guide me, I will do my best."

"Yeah," he grunted. He did his best to instruct him.

The large shrapnel piece would have to stay where it was for now. Moving it was too risky here. It took a few agonizing breems, but between both mechs, they managed to stop the flow. Blindside tried to sit up, only able to push his arms straight before changing his mind.

"We will have to move; this location is not secure." Prowl looked over Blindside with doubt, then knelt down and pulled the mech carefully over his shoulders in a fireman's hold. "Do not struggle," he advised.

"Sure," the pirate grunted again, trying not to strain his injured leg.

It was a slow, cautious trek to where Knockout was going to meet with them. They would have to wait for the medic to get to them, but they were well concealed from the crash.

Blindside helped where he could but put his energy into scanners. It wouldn't be his luck for the crash to have offlined the whole crew.

It seemed like a long time passed as the two sat waiting for help to arrive. Then the sound of an approaching 'bot alerted them that they were no longer alone. Prowl moved to intercept, telling Blindside to remain quiet with a quick motion of his hand as he left the mech alone.

Blindside nodded and pulled his blaster free. His scanners were buzzing like mad. Or maybe that was just a warning for emergency stasis. He tried to sit up, with some success. He kept his back to the hiding spot, optics always scanning around him. Any sound made him tense. Then the sounds came together. Heavy footfall. He charged the weapon, zeroing in on the noise. Whoever it was would pass right by him, if he could just keep his armor from rattling.

There was a moment where the heavy footfalls paused, turned to scuffling, then the sharp sound of a blaster going off, then silence for a klik more before Prowl appeared just outside of the hiding spot.

Blindside vented in relief and lowered his weapon. It fell from his grasp. He was weaker than he thought.

"Knockout is here," he informed the pirate, moving aside so that the medic could get to him. "I will stand guard."

Knockout slipped into the space, grim dissatisfaction on his face at what he saw. "I thought I told you not to get shot," he griped, immediately setting to work on the worst of it.

"I didn't," Blindside bit back, more from pain than in defense.

"Made a fine mess of yourself," Knockout grumbled. He was more relieved that the mech could still feel pain. "Good thing you got that refiner built," he mumbled as reading after reading came back reporting low energon levels that were getting lower.

"Lucky me," he groaned, his optics flickering.

"You stay online, or I'll deactivate you myself." He worked as quickly as he could.

"I told you, I don't die easily," he grinned. After that he kept his comments to a minimum, opting just to stay online while the medic worked.

Knockout ducked out, grabbing the deactivated mech Prowl had taken out and starting to cannibalize the parts he needed, doing his best to salvage some energon from the inert frame. Blindside never had issues with the practice. A downed mech was a dead one, and if you could save a life, you looked past things like this, but as he watched Knockout return over and over, he couldn't help wanting to purge, even if he had nothing in his tanks.

"Okay," the medic said finally. "You'll live." He vented as though that might have been an issue that he had not been certain of until that moment. "I'll get Prowl to help you back to camp. You need energon and rest."

"And you need to find his buddies," Blindside said, jerking his head to the scrap heap of a mech. "Swindle may not be much a fighter, but he's slippery."

"I'll let the fighters take care of that." He slipped out and returned with Prowl.

Blindside tried to pull himself up, pausing several times to just test his leg beneath him. When he was sure he wasn't going to collapse, he climbed out of cover.

Prowl didn't give him a chance to walk on his own. As soon as he was clear of the cover, he grabbed one arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, supporting the mech's weight with an arm wrapped around the mech's back.

"Okay," Knockout huffed, "Let's go."

Blindside tried to make their job as easy as possible, trying to walk faster than Prowl. He only kept it up for a joor before his joints started weakening.

Prowl tolerated the mech's struggle with stoic grace, supporting him when he got too weak to keep it up. Their return to camp took far longer than any of them liked, but they crossed paths with Mirage and Blurr setting out to 'clean up'.

Blindside avoided eye contact, focusing on walking and trying not to get angry.

When they finally did get back to camp, Hound had already hauled the refiner off and gotten it running as best he could with Knockout's instructions. Blindside found a cube of crudely refined energon shoved into his hand the second Prowl let him down to the ground.

"I know it's not right," Hound admitted, "but it'll get you through."

The pirate nodded and took the cube. He didn't take it in right away but eventually did.

Knockout kept an eye on him, though indirectly. The entire camp was tense, hearing of another ship had brought them all right back to the readiness to run again. They sure weren't in fighting shape.

Illusory had not come from stasis easily or calmly, and all the excitement had certainly not helped.

Charlie was instantly by her side with Scatterblade keeping her still, too gently to call it restraining but it might as well have been.

Blindside almost didn't finish the energon given to him. He had gotten himself hurt; he didn't deserve the first draft from the refiner. The others had been on low tanks far longer than he had been. They needed it. Still, in the end, his systems caved his resolve, and he finished off the cube.

Knockout gave a curt nod when the cube was finished, acknowledging the mech following orders and moving on after another scan. "Get some recharge," he ordered as he walked away.

He spoke with Hound for a bit about the refiner and the raw energon they had gathered. Hound didn't sound too sure about it all, but it was working.

He then went to Scatterblade and Illusory, caution in his every step. "And how's it going over here?" He stopped when Illusory's engine roared threateningly.

"Stay away from me," she warned. Her tone, however, did not match the fear trembling over her open bond to her mate.

Scatterblade tightened the hug, holding her from behind. 'Relax. Just focus on me. He was only trying to help.'

Her emotional response to him was a completely split one; half agreed with him and understood, the other half roared with anger and fear that he was going to do 'something' she wasn't going to like.

"Okay, okay, don't work yourself back into a glitch. I just wanted to check on you lot...we will have energon for everyone soon enough, thought you might like to hear that."

"Ah'm fine," the femme protested stubbornly.

'You're not,' Scatterblade told her firmly but sparkfelt. He was worried about her and shared it, at least a portion of it, just to help her understand.

'Ah...' Illusory tried to protest Scatterblade's claim, but couldn't. She was better than she had been, but not where she should be. 'I...' she tried again but just vented with frustration.

Sidestep, having watched the femme's odd behavior had stayed a healthy distance from her, but Silverdust still went to play with him every chance she got. Seeing how worked up the femme was getting, the quadruped commed Scatterblade asking if he wanted their sparkling to come back.

::I would. Thank you.:: Any anchor he could get to help his mate was a welcome one.

Silverdust happily joined her creators, she was tired anyway, and her favorite place to recharge was curled up between them.

Charlie left the family when Silverdust returned, turning to take in the state of everyone else. She wanted to find out what had just happened. The bots weren't always so giving with information, but she could tell everything was not 'okay' by the tense frames and shifting, wary optics. She saw Blindside and considered questioning him, but he looked awful. Likely he was the victim of whatever had happened. She couldn't imagine how he felt so beat up among 'bots he didn't entirely know. Also, he wasn't entirely comfortable around the humans yet, so she went in search of their medic instead. He was always good for bugging. She really enjoyed bantering with him and his attitude.

Knockout hadn't gone far, his uneasiness keeping him close to those still in his care.

"So, how bad was it?" Charlie asked stepping up behind him.

He spun to look at the woman, maintaining his light air of 'couldn't-care-less'. "What? The crash or the aftermath?" As fake as it was, it was his comfortable mask.

Charlie gave him a look that clearly stated she wasn't buying it. "Both." She shook her head and began again. "How's Blindside?"

"He'll live," he said with a vent, though his optics wandered toward the mech in question. "Hopefully that is the worst that comes of it." He sat down a little heavily, weariness weighing him down.

"Is there anything I can do?" That line felt so old, so overused, but she meant it every time. There was only so much she could do, and she just felt so useless lately.

"Help Illusory," he said honestly. "What Blindside did helped her get out of that data loop she was stuck in, but she's been stressing herself right back to another major glitch. She trusts you. You and Scatterblade can help her best." He slouched with a sense of defeat. "If I had proper facilities..." he laughed it off like an inside joke no one else knew. "How are you doing?" He decided to change the subject.

Charlie shrugged, "Good, considering. Still... I don't know what to call it. I feel... fractured. Like I left pieces of myself everywhere."

Knockout nodded with a knowing smirk, hardly amused by it but unable to help himself. "PTSD."

Charlie screwed up her face and nearly laughed it off. "No. Really? You think so?" The longer she paused to think about it, the more sense it made.

"You display classic symptoms; even across our two races it's almost identical." He vented softly. "Don't know that there isn't one of us here that doesn't have some form of it. Some worse than others," he gave her a deep understanding look.

Charlie suddenly felt exposed and fidgeted where she stood. She couldn't stand pity.

"Tell me about the other humans. Sorry to say I haven't kept as close an optic on everyone as I should." He leaned back on his elbows, relaxing.

Charlie smiled, though it was small and slightly embarrassed. "They're all coping pretty well. Vance has been keeping busy. He seems to like being busy. I don't know Myra as well as I'd like, but we now have something to talk about, I guess." She stifled a giggle.

"Do you now?"

Her face turned red, and she tried hard to silence more laughter. "Simply said, yes."

"I'll note that in the file as 'recovery'," he said with a laugh, though he wasn't entirely sure what she was implying. "And Rex? He seems to be coming along nicely."

Charlie practically beamed and she had to bite her lips to keep a smile from breaking her face. "He's good. Doing well. We're really good for each other."

"That's good to hear," he said with a smile. It was good to hear some happiness in Charlie's voice.

She talked with him for a while, glad to just be with a friendly face.

The night was falling before she knew it and she said her goodbyes and wandered back to Scatterblade and Illusory. It had taken a few minutes before she realized that the 'clean up crew' had yet to return. Illusory had settled for the most part back onto the semi-rational thought and was pleased when Charlie approached them. Her ease of processor coming from the fact that Sidestep was nowhere to be seen at the moment. Charlie busied herself with Silverdust, needing her happy high to last until Rex wasn't busy. Scatterblade was resting, taking advantage of the Decepticon cat's absence and his mate's reasonable sense of processor. The camp settled from anxiously tense to a wary comfort as the hours passed with no activity outside of the normal.


	28. Chapter 28

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Eight~*~

Day 356

Prowl was clearly not pleased - for as clearly as he showed any emotions - that the two mechs sent for 'clean up' were still gone. Still, he maintained an overall calm not wanting to alarm anyone needlessly. He started a patrol with Arcee, one close and one further out.

Blindside, Scatterblade, Illusory and of course Silverdust were the only 'bots remaining in camp; both mechs were still either in recharge or standby while Illusory watched over her sparkling with Charlie nearby when the rest of the humans returned from the build-sight looking a bit dirty and worn but pleased overall. Charlie waved to the group as they returned, her eyes steady on Rex and her smile wide at seeing him.

Rex glanced at Blindside, then went right to Charlie. "Hey, love." He pulled her close and kissed her. "What happened to him?"

She smiled into the kiss, then hearing his question she just stared at him. "Don't tell me you didn't hear the explosion. He was getting energon with the others, and the ship found them. He had the bright idea to blow 'em up." She shook her head with a sigh.

"Oh, we heard it, but Arcee said it wasn't anything to worry about." He looked back at the resting mech. "She may have exaggerated a little."

"Or omitted," she sighed. "Knockout said he'll be okay if he just stays still for a while."

"Good," he looked over the others, smiling at Illusory before turning back to Charlie. "We're done," he smiled. "Want to go see?"

Her face lit up, "Absolutely."

His smile grew bigger as he took her hand in his. "Come on!" He led her back the way the three of them had just come from. Higher up and deeper into the trees where they had deemed safest sat a comfortable looking cabin style house. It was large, for what one might expect to see out in the trees, but well concealed. He led her through the door into a central living area that had a beautiful kitchen to one side and a bathing room to the other. They would, of course, have to haul water for their baths, but it was there. Then to the back was a hallway that ran along the back of the cabin. At each end was a door. "Ours is this one," he tugged her along, lighting a lamp they had acquired since the light of day had fled by now. There were windows enough - without glass but with shutters to close in bad weather - to provide plenty of light during the day. The room itself wasn't huge but was very comfortably sized with an even more comfortable bed centered against one wall. "We were able to bring up some mattresses, thanks to Hound. Makes it more like home at least."

Charlie gasped and couldn't keep tears from clouding her sight. "I can't believe this. It's incredible." She turned to him, a smile spreading to her eyes. She bit her bottom lip. "It's beautiful." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. A cute little peck at first, then a soft caress.

He returned the affection happily, eagerly even, chasing her kiss with one of his own, full of love and passion. "I'm glad you like it," he hummed with heavy breath.

Charlie pulled him closer, rubbing her cheek against his. "I don't want this to be permanent," she said, a tired lilt in her voice.

"None of us do," he admitted, "but it's nice to pretend it's a little get away."

She nodded and squeezed him a little tighter, but her shoulders fell. "When will we be able to go home? Will we ever?" She pulled back, still holding her arms around his neck. "Will Blade and Lu and the others ever be safe again? We can't just keep hiding here. Someone will find us. Hell, there may be people out there now trying find that crash." She took a breath to calm her rant.

"Love," he pulled her back against him and just held her. "I wish I had answers."

She leaned on him, grateful for the grounding presence. "I'm really scared," she admitted.

"I know. It's hard not to be in this situation; we have no way of knowing how things will turn out."

"I used to be so sure that things would just work themselves out," she muttered.

"They may yet, who can tell?" He sighed. "Something will work out eventually." He wasn't so sure of it, but he was willing to pretend he was for Charlie.

She hugged him, tightly. "I need something to do. Being busy always helps me."

He smiled, "Well, there are plenty of things to do, what do you want to do?"

"Honestly," she laughed tiredly, "I want a swing. I know, it sounds silly, but I want a park and a swing set."

"Okay," he nodded his head as though that were the most reasonable request in the world. "There's still some lumber out back; let's build a swing."

Charlie laughed. "Really? Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that." He gave her a half grin that said he was amused by it all and enjoying it.

Her cheeks turned beet red, and she shoved him playfully. "There used to be this rope swing at a campground I visited every year. It was tied to a branch about twenty feet up, and it was just a board with a hole in the middle. We would take turns just running with someone on it until they went over our heads then let them go." She told the story with an expectant air.

"Rope swing?" He thought it over. "Okay. We'll just have to get one of the bots to run to someone into town to get some rope."

Charlie's smile widened. "You don't think I'm being silly? I'm twenty-three, and I'm asking to go the park." She searched his eyes, half expecting him to agree but wanting him not to.

"No," he answered honestly. "You know, when we were deployed some of the best times we had were when we acted like children...kinda let go of all that darkness life set on us and just lived for a bit. If all it takes is a swing to get you there, I will get you a swing. If you want bumper cars, I'll find some. Whatever you want, I will find a way for you to have it; especially when it makes you smile."

Charlie's face softened, and she couldn't keep her vision from clouding, again. She pulled him back into a hug. "I love you." Relief and pure joy just radiated from her.

"I love you too." He held onto her happily. "I will do anything for you."

Shivers ran through her at his words. This could buoy her, keep her on her feet and out of the past. So much had happened she knew she could never forget it, but with him, she could move on. He was here and willing to help her, something she wasn't all that used to. This whole year had been an ordeal in more ways that she'd ever thought possible. She had had to rely on everyone else for protection. A few years ago, asking for help was an ordeal all by itself. Learning to ask and be okay with asking, that had been one the hardest things she had ever had to do.

Rex was here for her. Ready, willing, ...loving. She just needed to ask.

"You okay?" He kept his arms wrapped around her, but tried his best to look at her tucked up against him.

She looked up at him, a smile on her face. "I'm great. I'm really great," she laughed as she wiped away a few tears.

"Good. I like hearing that." He rubbed her back gently.

She leaned into him again. "How can I make you happy?" She asked suddenly. "I want to know everything. What you like, hate, favorite color, food-" she laughed. "Rambling again."

He laughed. "You make me happy. When you're happy, I'm happy...but as for the other things," he nudged her toward the bed, "you go relax for a minute while I get some of this dirt off, then we can relax and chat until we fall asleep in our new bed. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great." She kissed him before she let go.

Rex watched her for a moment before turning reluctantly to do as he had said. He went to the little bathing room, a deep basin of water already there for minor cleaning. He grabbed a rag and soaked it, rubbed it over his skin, changed his clothes to slightly less dirty ones, then went back to join Charlie.

She lay on the bed, curled on her side, watching the light fade against the window.

"Beautiful," he murmured, leaning against the door frame, enjoying the way the light played across her curled form.

She lifted her head to see him and smiled. "Hi to you, too."

He pushed off the door frame and went to the bed, crawling in beside her, a soft smile still on his face.

"I almost fell asleep," she sighed, with a smile on her lips. "Nice find, Mr. Wakeheart."

"I thought so," he hummed happily, brushing a hand over her shoulder down to her waist where he let it rest.

She sighed and rested her hand on his. "If we're not careful we'll make a habit of this," she laughed.

"Maybe that's what I'm after." He smirked.

She turned to him, moving his hand to rest on her other hip. She kissed his nose. "Sounds like a plan."

"I like this plan," he nuzzled her neck, kissing softly.

She ran her hand along his arms and down his back.

"Thought we were going to talk," he teased as his hands rubbed gently along her sides. Still kissing her neck.

"We are," she said, kissing him once more before scooting out his kiss range. "Favorite color, go."

He groaned at the distance before focusing on the question. "Red. What's yours?" He reached for her again.

"Green." She inched away. "What was your dream job as a kid?"

"I...uh, well, I wanted to be a police chief." He laughed at the thought.

"What?" She laughed with him. "Why's that funny?"

"Because I didn't want to be a policeman - just the chief."

"Hmm. Any inspirations?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "I'm not sure when I had gotten the idea or how."

"So what led you to the military?" She lifted her head and propped it on hand.

"My grandpa was in the military; he was such a great man that I decided sometime in high school I would be like him. Wasn't hard after that to get in." He readjusted himself more comfortably. "And what were you going to be when you grew up?"

"A professional surfer," she said boldly before a grin split her face.

"Surfer? What gave you that idea?" He smiled, thinking of her riding a surfboard under the bright sun. It wasn't a bad thought.

"Well, I did surf all through high school. Then I started reading actual books and looked into teaching."

"You were going to teach?"

"Yeah. I was thinking high school, but," she laughed emptily, "life happened. I got in the accident and had to withdraw from school for a while."

"That one with Illusory, right? That was a bad one..." he sighed. "You could still teach, I'll bet."

Charlie snorted. "If we ever get back home. Cemetery Wind, Attinger, they're still looking for us. Not to mention Swindle, Lockdown..."

"It can't always be like this." He said with certainty.

"How? It's not like they're a secret anymore. They won't accept us - them."

"I...don't know, but I don't think everyone is against them. I mean, we're here. Maybe it's just about knowledge. People do better when they know what they're actually dealing with instead of just bits and pieces."

"So, we just get Prime to the UN for peace talks?" She asked her brow raised.

"...Maybe not." He thought about it. "It's not the governments that need awareness, it's everyone else. The common people...if they aren't afraid there's no reason for the government to protect them."

"That's really big step." She pointed out.

"It is," he sighed. "If only, huh? Anyway, back to happier things. Tell me about college, before everything happened."

"I lived in a suite with five other girls. Was really close to my roommate but didn't keep in touch. Heard she got married.

"I had a few really good friends. Steve, TJ, April, Nate." She frowned a little, but her smile grew back quickly. "It was a really good year."

"Kept in touch with any of them?"

"I wrote to April once a month. She sent me pictures of her prego belly," she chuckled. "I had a few classes that I really enjoyed. I took a special ed class, storytelling, a few fun electives. Even learned to ski.

"I saw a few school plays; a beautiful rendition of Mid-Summer Night's Dream. Oh, and Suesical the Musical." She smiled as the songs started to play in her head. "It was ridiculous and fun. Had some touching moments, though."

"Sounds like fun," he tried to imagine the different things. "So, is skiing really like surfing like everyone says?"

"Absolutely not. With surfing, you move up and down along the waves. Skiing is all gravity."

"Huh. Well, I always wanted to ski. Suppose you'll have to teach me." He winked at her.

"Yeah. Next time we're in a resort you've got your one on one."

"I'll hold you to it!" He reached over and grabbed her, pulling her close to him again. She smiled and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his chest. She started to hum one of the musical's songs. He held onto her, content and happy listening to her hum. As the song grew, she nearly parted her lips three times. She wanted to sing so badly, but her need felt so silly. So she contented herself in continuing.

"You can sing if you like. I'd like that." His voice was soft, sleepy. He felt more relaxed than he had in a long time.

Charlie smiled and closed her eyes.

 _"There's a faraway land,_

 _So the stories all tell,_

 _Somewhere beyond the horizon,"_

She sang with a carefully practiced tone.

 _"If we can find it,_

 _Then all will be well,_

 _Troubles there are few,_

 _Someday, we'll go to,_

 _Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew,_

 _Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew."_

Each sliding note was soft before it grew, the legato gentle but strong.

 _"They say breezes are warm there,_

 _And people are kind,_

 _Maybe it's something like heaven,_

 _I close my eyes,_

 _And I see in my mind,_

 _Skies of bluest blue,_

 _Solla Sollew,_

 _I've had so much trouble,_

 _Finding my way there,_

 _When I get close, it disappears,"_

She opened her eyes and tried to keep her voice steady, pointedly singing just to him.

 _"If we can get there,_

 _We're gonna stay there,_

 _If it takes us miles,_

 _If it takes us years,_

 _High on a mountain or lost on the sea,_

 _Sooner or later, I'll find it,_

 _I have a picture of how it will be,_

 _On the day I do,_

 _Troubles will be through,_

 _And I'll be home with you,_

 _Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew,_

 _Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew,_

 _Solla Sollew, Solla Sollew,_

 _Solla Sollew, I'll be home with you."_

At first he looked as though he would fall asleep to her singing, then the words registered and suddenly he couldn't look away from her, his mind and heart both racing with the thought of a real home where they didn't have to worry about so much. "That was beautiful."

"For Dr. Seuss, yeah," she giggled. "Thank you."

"You enjoy singing don't you?"

"Yeah." She tucked her chin in, hiding a grin. "Ever since I could talk, really."

"You should do it more; I like it." He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

She smiled, another bit of fear chipped away. "Here, here. So, how did you get involved with N.E.S.T.?"

"Hard work." He said with a deep sigh. "I was climbing the ladder, like a good soldier, doing my best to prove I was one of the best...I don't know when I learned about N.E.S.T., or maybe I should say when they let me know of them, but when I did, I knew that's where I wanted to be. Took a while, but I did everything I knew would get them to consider me. I think I knew someone who knew someone is how it actually happened. But hard work got me where I wanted to be."

"That's initiative," Charlie nodded, impressed, "expected nothing less. So were you a jock in high school? Let me guess, basketball."

"Uh, no. I tried out for football once, but after beating up one kid that thought he was high and mighty - picking on younger, less able students - I decided sports groups weren't for me."

Charlie cooed. "Yay. I hated jocks." She laughed.

He laughed with her. "They aren't all bad," he felt obligated to say. "Just most of them."

Charlie gave him a friendly smile. "Oh, I know. There were a few really good guys I knew in high school. Their friends were so full of themselves, though. Going on and on about the divinity of Kobe." She rolled her eyes.

"Ah yes," he agreed. "So, moving on...tell me something else about you, before."

"I'm the oldest of six; I used to mix potions of dirt, shampoo and leaves in my backyard - circa third grade -, and I played Juliette in Romeo and Juliette when I was sixteen," she rattled off.

"Six? That's a lot of siblings. Actual family." He smiled. "How many brothers, how many sisters? Don't tell me you were all gorgeous red-headed girls?" He teased.

"Two brothers, three sisters, and sadly, only two other redheads. And they're more strawberry blonde."

"Ah, well, almost balanced out. Must have made family gatherings a lot of fun."

"Yeah, loads of cousins. Sunday dinner every week, Thanksgiving and Christmas...ordeals." She sighed, lost in memory. "My mom's parents are divorced, and every once in a while, grandpa would show up, and things got ugly. Good thing the kids were mostly in the background."

"That sounds mostly great."

"It's nice." She ran her hand up and down his arm.

He smiled. "Some day we'll have something like that." It was a promise he intended to keep - somehow.

"Five maybe, six is too many," she laughed, crawling closer to him.

He chuckled. "Alright. Whatever you want, love." He pulled her close and kissed her affectionately.


	29. Chapter 29

~*~ Chapter Twenty-Nine~*~

Day 357

It was late into the next night before Prowl and Arcee returned, still no Mirage or Blurr.

::Hound? Please report any incoming communications.:: Prowl ordered, his tone was clipped and stern, far more strict than his usual tone.

Arcee set off to check on everyone in camp. Blindside had stirred at their arrival only to fall right back into recharge. Scatterblade was watching over Illusory as she rested, Silverdust close by.

::Nothing to report,:: Hound sounded unsure. ::Something up?::

::They haven't come back yet, have they?:: Knockout interjected.

Prowl didn't answer but definitely turned inward to consider the situation.

Scatterblade lifted his head. ::Prowl. What is it?::

::Mirage and Blurr have not checked in after going to investigate the crash site.::

::Any movement?:: His grip on Illusory's hand tightened ever so slightly.

::There has been human activity in the area. If the probability is in their favor they have simply found somewhere to lay in hiding until activities decrease enough for them to return safely; however, they should have checked in.:: There was just the faintest note of stress to his tone.

"You think they've been captured?" Illusory asked loudly, shock and fear in her voice.

"That's not what we're saying," Scatterblade rested his other hand on her shoulder as he moved to sit behind her, prepared to hold her back if she got too worked up. 'It's alright. They'll be fine.'

"There is not enough information to determine that yet." Prowl stated.

"We have to find them!" She insisted.

"They will. We need to stay here," Scatterblade took both of her hands. "It'll be alright." He looked to the others with a nod and a please help-me-sound-like-I'm-not-lying look.

"No reconnaissance can be initiated at this time. We will have to wait until the human interest has diminished." Prowl insisted, pacing a few steps away.

By now Hound and Knockout had come to join the rest of them in the central area. "I'll do the next patrol." Hound said as he headed off.

"I will join you. No one should leave the camp alone from now on." Prowl stated.

"You just got back," Arcee pointed out. "You should rest, let someone else go."

"I will," Knockout offered with a shrug.

Blindside pushed himself up to sit. "No, I can help. Besides, I can't get any worse than this."

"Sit. Down." Scatterblade said annoyance clear and strong. "I'm not even going to give you a reason. Stay. Put."

Blindside vented and leaned back against the wall.

"You aren't cleared for duty anyway." Knockout pointed out with a smirk. "Come on Hound, let's take a look around."

Scatterblade shook his head. "Seriously, what are you, five?"

"I could still fight," the orange mech shifted in his spot.

"Sure you could..."

Prowl paced a few steps away from the conversation, focusing on his calculations.

Scatterblade turned his attention to Illusory, trying to ease her tension.

'It's all starting over again,' she whimpered.

'Stop. You have to relax. This isn't healthy. They will find them. Please, rest,' he pushed warmth toward her though he was unable to keep his own feelings out of it. He felt deflated, drained and stretched thin. He was her tether, but he felt like if he didn't lessen his grip he would snap, but letting go wasn't an option either. He just had to keep being strong for her.

She felt his stress starting to rise and felt guilty. She did her best to tuck her panic away. 'You're right,' she vented softly, trying to gather herself. 'I'm trying...'

'I know. You're doing better. Little bit at a time.' He pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. "It'll be alright."

She relaxed against him, trying to keep her thoughts away from what was going on.

"Really, guys? I'm wounded, and I can't leave. Keep the gooey stuff to a minimum, will ya?" Blindside said, bluntly, obnoxiously. He received a rock to the cranium for his efforts.

Vaguely thinking of the amount of spite she felt at that moment, the femme wrapped herself closer to Scatterblade. "You don't have to watch," she teased. This was good, she thought. Keep thinking about what's around you. It was an effort to shut out all the rest, everything that screamed at her to just run and never look back. It seemed to be working for now.

Blindside took the challenge, raising an eye ridge. Another, larger rock hit him in the face. "Rude!" Blindside picked up a rock and tossed it back.

Scatterblade caught it easily. "When was the last time you lobbed anything?" He laughed.

"I'll show you lobbed." Blindside bent down again and started gathering rocks to pelt the front-liner.

"If you two are going to throw things," Illusory warned with a semi-dark tone, "you take into consideration the sparkling." She pulled Silverdust closer.

Both mechs stayed their hands for a moment. "Don't worry; I can aim," Blindside quipped.

Scatterblade hit him again right between the eyes before he could raise his hand.

"You're supposed to be a melee bot, not ranged," Blindside complained. Scatterblade just laughed.

Illusory laughed at their game, content to watch. The two mechs went at it through the remainder of the night and on into the day, at one point using rocks as big as their fists, but when one got too close to hitting the sparkling Scatterblade called it off with one more rock aimed at the pirate. It was a larger one that hit his jaw with a vibrating twang.

"I deserved that," he grumbled as he rubbed his face.

Sidestep appeared from almost nowhere when the rock came too close to the young femme, growling a warning to Blindside as he crossed the camp, setting well out of Illusory's range and flopping on his side.

Blindside jerked at his sudden appearance. He kicked his legs as if trying to jump to his feet, but his injures leg halted any efforts. For a few moments, he looked horrified but quickly recovered his features and relaxed his frame back against the wall. His reaction startled Illusory, not that her already tense frame showed it, but Scatterblade could feel it across their bond.

"You okay?" Scatterblade asked, concern and confusion flashing in him as he did his best to ease Illusory.

"Of course," he said, defensively. "What, you don't get startled?" He grinned with a forced chuckle.

Silverdust squirmed away from Illusory's grip to climb on Sidestep. Illusory wasn't comfortable with it but tried to focus on the positive. Sidestep had proven that he had no intention of luring the sparkling away and always remained where he could be seen with her. He seemed to enjoy the interaction as much as Silverdust did and he was always very gentle with her. Sidestep was satisfied with the pirate's reaction to his warning and openly displayed it in his expression, even as he rolled lazily onto his back for Silverdust to continue pouncing on him. Blindside frowned at the smug cat but didn't say anything.

Prowl remained to the side of their camp working out the probabilities of their current situation, his frame language speaking of his growing unease as each breem passed with no more information from the two missing mechs. Hound and Knockout returned from patrol looking well-worn and ready for a few joors of recharge.

Scatterblade looked up as the pair passed. ::Any luck?:: He asked Hound.

The mech shook his head. ::Not so far,:: he came to sit near the bonded pair, a smile on his face. "But 'Raj is pretty sly, and no one can catch Blurr, so they're probably fine. Just sitting it out."

Illusory took the confidence in the scout's tone seriously. It helped ease her stress a little.

Arcee started to head out on her own for the next shift, not wanting to disturb Prowl.

"Ah believe th' mech said no one was ta go alone," Jazz teased as he slipped into camp unannounced.

"Where have you been?" She challenged him shortly, though her frame clearly showed relief at his return.

"Around," he smirked heading to trade a few short words with Knockout, then headed out with Arcee, more than willing to be back out of the camp. It seemed the mech might do anything not to be there, though there was no indication as to why.

Blindside watched Jazz leave again, contemplation clear on his faceplates. He still felt he was to blame for his failed attempt to help the mech before, but he kept his pity party to himself.

The next several joors passed slowly, Prowl, Knockout, Jazz, and Arcee taking turns on patrol while Hound camped himself up on the high ledge to listen for comms and monitored local activity. The days shifted from light to dark almost unnoticed by the bots as they kept the search for the possibility of an attack. It had a greater probability of happening every passing cycle according to Prowl. With the chances that their teammates had been captured, it was only a matter of time before someone came looking for them.

Illusory offered to help, to trade shifts with Hound but he told her just to relax and take it easy. He seemed overly concerned with how poorly she had handled recent changes. She brooded on that for a while, unhappy but away from the edge of panic and fear. Annoyance and frustration were taking their place. "Even that stupid cat is doing more than I am!" She vented loudly when Sidestep returned with Vance and Myra from a rather successful hunting trip.

Scatterblade groaned. "Lu, relax. Your job is to recover. So, focus."

"But..." she vented again. "I do not like being so useless. I do not like that you have to watch me so much..." she let her frustration overwhelm her for just a moment. "I know you would rather be doing other things too."

He shifted some to get more comfortable. She wasn't wrong; he was a mech designed to move almost constantly. All the sitting around and watching others work was starting to get to him. "It's alright. I made a promise." He rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her again. It was becoming more of a habit than anything. Every time she got upset it was just easier to be prepared to restrain her instead of trying to get a grip on her afterward.

"I love you for it...but, if I cannot be useful, at least you can be. Will you join in the patrols? I am sure somebot else can sparkling sit me." She sounded bitter, but her intentions were honest across their bond. She wanted to give him a break, let him stretch his gears for a while. Surely nothing too terrible could happen in one patrol.

He thought on it for a few moments, sharing his contented feelings with her, enjoying just having her in his arms. Finally, he spoke. "Only if you promise to stay here."

"I am half blind, where would I go?" Still, she felt a little better that he was considering her request. "I promise to stay put."

Scatterblade looked to Blindside, and before he could say anything, the pirate spoke first. "I'll call you if she so much as trips."

The front-liner nodded and vented deeply. "Okay. Next time they switch, I'll go."

"Okay." Illusory felt a little vindicated. At least this gave Blindside something to do as well.

When the next shift came, Illusory all but shoved Scatterblade off. Jazz was paring up with him while Arcee gratefully took an extra shift of rest to recharge. Sidestep flopped tiredly nearby, strategically where he could see the femme and her sparkling while staying out of her direct sight.

"Femme's got ya pretty wound, huh?" Jazz said after having gotten a lackluster response to a question he had asked a few different times in a different way with much the same results.

The front-liner vented. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be rude." Scatterblade didn't feel eager to chat, his focus was split, even as he sought to pull it to the task at hand.

"S'okay mech. Ah, get it." Jazz paused to look over a vantage point for a moment, scanning the area.

"I just want to fix it. I do so much better with things when I know I can fix it or know someone who does."

"Yeah, who doesn't. But she seems uh lot better than she was, from what Ah saw anyway. That's somethin' at least." Satisfied with his scan results they moved on.

"It's a miracle, really," Scatterblade laughed bluntly. "Anything to make this slag seem a little brighter I think is worth it."

Jazz nodded, moving along as if they were just on a casual stroll and not patrolling for possible invaders. "It has been pretty crazy," he agreed.

"Seems like it's one crisis after another. Thought I finally got out of this war but-" he immediately shut up. "Not that I doubt what we fought for. I- it's- that's not how I meant it," he floundered.

The saboteur laughed. "It's okay, mech! It's okay. We all want out...most of us thought ya two were out too. Would give anythin' fer that ta have been true." He shrugged, "Guess it wanted one last run with everybot."

"Sadistic," Scatterblade laughed emptily. His scans were turning up empty as they continued to move. "What happened to them?" He murmured. They weren't exactly looking for the missing mechs anymore, they were watching for possible attacks, but he couldn't help but wonder anyway.

"Ah'd really like ta know that too." There was an almost uncomfortable tone to his voice. "Don't like not knowin' where muh 'bots are."

"We have an idea where they were? Maybe we could retrace their steps." Scatterblade needed something more concrete than patrol to take up his processor.

Jazz considered it a long moment, an evident struggle in his processors going on. "Prowl says ta stay away from there..." it was a warning, not an order on Jazz's part. If Scatterblade chose to disobey, he had to do it on his own terms knowing he was doing it.

Scatterblade stopped and placed a hand on Jazz's shoulder to stop him. "Why?" His tone was firm, cautious, bordering on afraid. "We can't lose anyone else. Where were they?"

"It was one o' Lockdown's ships. Prowl and Blindside took it out, but there was still some crew that survived. 'Raj and Blurr were supposed ta take care o' any tha' would be uh threat an' put down any that might be sufferin'. Ya know, spare them slow deactivation or torture by humans."

"Well, knowing them the job's done," Scatterblade started toward the shipwreck. "Something else is going on."

"Yeah, that's what we're afraid of." Jazz followed Scatterblade, too interested in finding out what happened to the missing mechs to care about what remained of protocol within their small group. Not that he had ever been one to follow protocol.

Scatterblade picked up his pace and pulled his swords.

Jazz pulled him back when they got close. "Subtly, mech. Don't know what we're gonna find."

He nodded and slowed down. There wasn't much to see at first; disturbed ground and some charred trees. The hull of the ship sat quietly missing much of its mass. There were tracks everywhere, footprints as well as tires. A lot of tires, in fact, moving away from the crash.

"Humans." Jazz caught himself hoping every 'bot had escaped - Lockdown's crew or not.

"I'm not getting much on scans," Scatterblade admitted.

"Nah, meh neither. Go that way, keep comms open. Ah'm gonna go this way." He pointed toward the remainder of the ship. "Keep optics peeled for anywhere uh bot could hide." He paused before heading off. "If ya find trouble, bail as fast as ya can. Ah'll find ya later."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Scatterblade agreed and trekked out.

With a quick nod, Jazz set off, his steps absolutely silent.

Scatterblade moved slowly, skirting the wreckage with his scanners on high. ::Mirage. Blurr. Do you read?:: He sent the inquiry out carefully and never too frequently. He searched the waves of upturned ground from the ship's crash, seeking out different hiding places.

There was nothing but silence around them. Even the animals seemed unwilling to come to the area. It was well past their patrol end when Hound's voice broke over the comms.

::Jazz, Scatterblade? If you're hearing this, please respond.::

::Go ahead,:: Scatterblade answered.

Jazz offered a short; ::Yeah?::

::Thank Primus. Hey, wherever you've gone off to, you might want to head back. Prowl's about two kliks from a meltdown.::

::Yeah, we're on our way. Tell him ah saw somethin' interestin' an' went ta check it out. No harm.:: Even as his comm went out, Jazz slipped from the shadows beside Scatterblade, a decidedly displeased look on his face - completely at odds with his tone. "Let's go."

Scatterblade vented deeply, startled by his sudden appearance and frustrated at the delay, but followed Jazz.

They were almost back when the saboteur stopped, took a few deep vents then turned to Scatterblade. "You go on back; Ah'll be there in uh breem. Need ta cool down before ah walk inta camp."

Scatterblade paused, concern flaring in him. "What's wrong? You hurt?"

"Nah," he offered a lopsided grin. "Just...uh...just got myself worked up thinkin'. Need ta cool off so ah don't set somebot off accidentally."

Scatterblade watched him curiously but nodded.

Jazz took a few steps away; his entire frame screamed tension. He leaned against a tree and started a rhythmic venting cycle designed to calm and center him.

Scatterblade watched confused and concerned. "Jazz, what happened? This isn't...you."

Jazz looked at him, without his visor to hide the intensity of his gaze it seemed the mech could see right through Scatterblade. "Ah don't like losin' my mechs," he said calmly, his tone like stone and ice. "Don't worry," his voice was back to its normal jovial tone, "Ah'm okay. Just need uh breem."

Scatterblade backed up. "I'm sorry. See you back at camp?"

"Yeah, just uh breem or two." He leaned his head back and closed his optics, continuing his venting cycle.

Scatterblade finally turned back toward camp. Now that Jazz's strange behavior and absences made sense, he almost wished he were still ignorant to it. Walking back into camp, he kept this revelation to himself and sought out Prowl.

The mech wasn't hard to find; he was pacing tensely in the center of the camp, his door wings up marking his anger.

Upon seeing Scatterblade, a split second of panic struck his frame before he got it under control. "Where is Jazz?"

"He's right behind me, relax," Scatterblade said, not unkindly.

Prowl nodded curtly. "Where were you?" His tone was a lot calmer than it seemed it should be. There was still anger in his optics, though where it was directed was hard to tell.

Scatterblade didn't feel like playing games tonight. ::Looking for Blurr and Mirage. We can't keep not looking for them.::

Prowl's optics widened with shock, then understanding. He was still annoyed, but the anger was gone. "Understood."

"We should look sooner rather than later," Scatterblade said, "for his," he nodded to the forest, to Jazz hiding in the trees, "and our sake."

"I would normally agree; however, given what information is available to me...chances are very high we will find nothing. I hesitate to risk anyone else. Too many are injured, and everybot here is under-fuled. Hardly promotes a positive outcome."

"Do you have any idea what happened? Why they haven't called?"

"No." He vented softly, the exhaustion he felt finally robbing him of his stoic nature. "I do not think it is anything we will want to hear though."

Jazz walked into the camp with his usual smile and careless stride. There was no evidence of his previous stress, though he didn't make optic contact with anyone.

Prowl straightened up, put on his usual mask and refocused. "I suggest you see to your femme. Sidestep has been distracting her, and I doubt it will be much longer before she attempts to attack him physically. I doubt that Blindside is much better off."

Scatterblade nodded. When he reached the cave, he smiled to Illusory. 'I'm back.'

'Oh, thank Primus!' She looked rather angry glaring in the general direction of Sidestep, who upon seeing Scatterblade slunk out of the cave to safety, though the grin on his dog-like face suggested he had greatly enjoyed pestering the edgy femme.

"I swear I will learn how to skin a bot and he will be the first!"

Scatterblade laughed. "You'd have to catch him first."

She growled loudly, but gave no other indication she thought of trying her chances. "Stupid cat's a menace," she grumbled. Then vented and turned to her mate, her annoyance melting away. "How was patrol...you were gone a long time."

"Nothing to note." He shrugged and slid down next to her.

She leaned on him, relief flooding her to have him back at her side. "What do you think happened to them?"

"I don't know," he said honestly.


	30. Chapter 30

~*~ Chapter Thirty~*~

Day 364

There was a commotion outside the cave, several voices all speaking at once; Jazz's notably the loudest though none so loud that what was being said could be heard.

"Stay here," Scatterblade said softly, rising to see what was happening.

The femme tensed again, reaching for Silverdust who was napping nearby. "O-okay," she all but whimpered.

Outside Prowl and Jazz were almost literally butting heads while Arcee and Hound tried to get their attention away from one another. Knockout and Sidestep were standing a safe distance away; Knockout looking shocked and angry while Sidestep looked mildly perturbed.

"Come on!" Arcee growled, taking her chances and shoving Prowl a good pace back so she could stand between them. "This isn't going to do any good!"

"Ah won't leave them there!" Jazz roared, his anger could be felt by those around him.

"How do you suppose we get to them, Jazz? We have no intel to plan from." Prowl's voice was far quieter than the saboteur but no less dangerous. "You cannot just rush off into a fight you are unprepared for."

"Ah'm always prepared," it sounded like a threat.

"Please, can we just...talk for a minute?" Hound begged. He was genuinely upset by something.

"Hey," Scatterblade barked. He strode up to them all. "Keep it down. All this talk about not wanting panic..." He said pointedly to Prowl. "Talk it out. And spell it out. What do you know?"

"I...uh..." Hound stammered, looking nervously between Jazz and Prowl. "I found...an auction," he sounded ashamed that he had been doing something other than monitoring the comms and specified data trails, but also deeply saddened by what he had found. "An independent seller is auctioning off alien hardware - Cybertronian hardware - so I looked into it.

"They have Mirage and Blurr pictured in an upcoming private event. I couldn't figure out where they were, but they are listed as 'still operational' unless the highest bidders want parts instead..." he stammered a little, Jazz's engines roaring loudly. "Instead of the whole functioning piece." He finished.

"Ah'll hack 'em, Ah can find where they're keepin' our mechs!" The look Jazz gave Prowl dared him to deny him that.

"Agreed," the tactician nodded. "We have to gather information first; then we can make a plan."

"We don't have time for your usual cover-every-possible-outcome planning!" Everyone could see Jazz was picking at threads. He wanted a fight. Specifically, he wanted Prowl to be angry. It was anyone's guess as to why, but Arcee and Hound were doing their best to stop it.

Scatterblade did his best to hide the panic and surprise. "Take a breather, Jazz. Nobody's happy about this, but we do need a plan. At least a heading at the very least. Place first, guns blazing second." Scatterblade moved closer to them, ready to tag Arcee out if things turned into a brawl. He looked to Hound. "Do we have coordinates?" He asked evenly, trying to lead by example like he was trained to do as mission lead all those vorns ago.

"No. They've covered their tracks pretty well. Probably afraid of getting robbed..."

"They'd be lucky ta just get robbed," Jazz growled. "Ah'm on it. Ah'll find somethin' ta get us there." He stalked off without another word.

"I'll stay with him," Arcee promised as she trotted after the angered mech.

Prowl did his best to compose himself, but it was clear that Jazz had reached something inside him that had rattled him. "We will have to wait until we have more information," he stated. "Hound, monitor the sale site, keep us informed."

"Yeah." The scout trotted off to do as he was told.

Scatterblade cycled air through his vents. This whole exchange had been rather quick and painless. Hopefully, that was also the end of it. He really didn't want to know what would happen if Jazz and Prowl honestly started fighting each other. Knockout shook his head and headed back to the refiner, determined to get them all properly fueled before things blew up in their face plates again. Sidestep strolled away, seemingly unaffected by it all. Prowl stood looking determined but with nothing to start with he seemed almost lost.

'What is happening?' Illusory asked of her mate worriedly across her bond. She had sensed a faint spike of something, but she wasn't sure what.

'It's nothing to worry about.' His response was automatic.

'Sure did not sound that way. What was Jazz yelling about?' She pushed.

'He doesn't like Prowl being slow to act,' he told her, already feeling this answer wouldn't placate her.

'That sounds like him, but it is not like him to lash out like that...' she thought about everything they had been through and how the saboteur had always been the calm center for the rest of them. He had kept her together while Scatterblade had been captured among other things. Jazz was always calm and collected unless he was thoroughly pissed off. 'What does he want Prowl to do?'

'Let him search more of the forest for the crashed bots. Make sure they don't find their way to camp.' He didn't like lying to her so easily, but panicking her wasn't an option.

'Oh,' she sounded disappointed. 'So still no word then?'

'Not yet. It'll be alright.' He tried to smile. Keeping the panic down was easy, keeping her from sensing it, slightly more complicated. It was just below the surface, a mix of vengeance, restraint, and anger. He kept it close, hoping to shield her from it.

'I have a hard time believing that.' She sensed something was off, but put it up to the stress of everything. 'What are they planning to do now?'

'Keep monitoring the comms and widening the search.'

Blindside sat up, tired of pretending he was in recharge. He watched the two bonded bots curiously, the tension was apparent, and he wondered why. Scatterblade glanced at his friend and nodded to him with a grin. Blindside dipped his chin in reply.

'So, I expect you will be going on more patrols?' She was both hopeful - wanting him to feel useful - and nervous. The more he was gone, the greater the chances of something happening.

'Yeah, nothing too far,' he promised, almost too quickly.

'Okay.' She vented and relaxed against the wall, forcing herself not to think about how useless she was feeling.

Scatterblade couldn't keep from worrying, torn between keeping his comfortable spot beside her and wanting to join the rescue that was sure to take place.

'I will be okay,' she promised. 'You do what needs to be done.'

'As long as you stay here, I'll believe it,' he teased.

She laughed a soft huffing sound. 'Where would I go?'

'After me,' he winked.

'If I had to, yes...' she admitted.

"Okay, now you're just being rude," Blindside huffed.

Scatterblade laughed. "You'll live."

Illusory smiled at Blindside, no apology in her expression. "How are you feeling?" She asked in the way another might try to distract a youngling from some other topic.

Blindside rolled his optics. "I'm fine. When the room stops spinning, it'll be a party," he grumbled.

"So, joining the patrols is the last thing on your processor?" Scatterblade teased.

"No slag," the pirate shut off his optics and shifted in his spot on the floor. ::I heard about what's going on. I'm still well enough to protect this place.:: he said over a private line to his friend.

::I'm sure you are,:: Scatterblade answered tiredly.

Illusory readjusted herself and started to relax into recharge. Hound still wasn't letting her take a shift on the comms, and she was starting to get suspicious. Or, she thought to herself, her paranoia was taking hold again. She dragged in a deep cycle of air and let it out slowly. All she could do was trust that Scatterblade would tell her anything she needed to know.

The auction had a live feed and a timer counting down from fourteen hours. There was a buyout price listed, so high even the wealthiest of collectors or private arms race nuts wouldn't be able to end the auction before it was at least three quarters through. Many of the names listed were first initials, full middle names followed by the last initial. Some had a sense of humor, apparently, due to the dollar signs in place of certain letters. Had this been an actual live auction, many of the people would never have attended, either because secrecy was utmost or bad feelings between once business partners.

The timer was counting down, and the bid was rising.

The tensions in the camp increased dramatically as the timer continued to tick down. Jazz made a few trips away from the camp, alone against whatever Prowl said, and would return just as frustrated and foul tempered as before, if not worse. Still, the 'bots tried to keep the majority of what was happening quiet after Illusory had questioned Hound. His unwillingness to be forward with anything leading her to believe he was hiding something important from her.

Knockout warned them all about sending the femme into another glitch with the flair only a medic can give that made a 'bot reconsider even thinking twice about it.

Arcee made it her job to make sure everyone was fully fueled as quickly as the refiner could produce. Even Silverdust seemed to gather that things weren't quite right, but Sidestep did his best to entertain her - and to annoy Illusory while he was at it.

Physically, Blindside was beginning to feel better, but his mood was dark. If he hadn't acted on impulse, the ship could have moved on, and the humans wouldn't have investigated the crash; but they wouldn't have moved on. Lockdown was a professional; grudges were second nature. The pirate wondered which mess he would have preferred.

::What are we going to do?:: Hound asked over a secured line that included everyone except Illusory.

::Ah've got nothin':: Jazz snapped, pacing irritably.

A silence fell over them as they watched the timer roll. ::We will have to track the winner.:: Prowl's calm tone did not match the hopeless look on his face as the timer hit '0'.

The winner's name appeared as David$j. Whoever it was had been contacted and given eight hours to collect their merchandise.

::Is there a location? Any hint at all?:: Blindside asked, continuing to suggest ways to find them; a zip code, credit card number, phone number. Anything.

::Tracing th transaction,:: Jazz's tone had new determination. ::Ah'll find that slagger.::

The auction site shut down four hours later, the page simply reading; stopped transmitting, 404 error. Then a comm signal flared.

Scatterblade froze. He hadn't seen this signature since Charlie's accident with Aiden. The comm that Wheeljack had added to her Cybertronian arm.

The voice was male, cautious, and calm. ::This is for any surviving Autobots. Your friends are safe. We're currently removing them to a secure location. We want to reunite you as soon as possible. Does anyone read me?::

By some chance of unusual luck on their part, Illusory happened to be in recharge when the comm came. It had not registered enough to rouse her.

::State your designation.:: Prowl responded.

"Slag his..." Jazz cut his verbal rant off, in favor of the private comm shared among them. ::Slag his designation, where is he?:: There was dark promise in the saboteur's tone.

::My name is Cade Yeager. I helped Optimus find some Autobots. We just want to help you.::

::Is Optimus still with you?:: Prowl continued calmly ignoring Jazz.

::This is probably uh trap,:: Jazz grumbled over their private line, displeased with being ignored.

There was heavy regret in his tone. ::No, it's a long story. Please, we need to get you to a safe place. There are still others out there who are trying to find you.::

::Where is he?:: Scatterblade demanded, his restraint wearing thin.

::It's complicated. We'll fill you in when you get here.:: The coordinates were sent, and it seemed Cade was done talking.

They stood there for a moment just looking at each other. Optimus was gone? Was he deactivated? Did Lockdown get him after all?

::He's lyin'.:: Jazz said. ::It's all uh little too nice an' neat not ta be uh trap.::

::But does he really have Blurr and Mirage?:: Arcee asked.

::I liked him.:: Hound added, unsure if it was helpful. ::He sounded nice.::

Knockout laughed at the thought of trusting an unknown human based on the observation of 'he sounded nice'. ::Stick to the woods, big guy. Anyone can sound nice.::

::He did not seem to be lying,:: Prowl added, contemplating the coordinates given.

::So, we're going?:: Arcee sounded uncertain.

::No, not everyone.:: Prowl glanced to where Illusory and the sparkling were still tucked safely away.

::Strike team then. Ah'm goin'.:: Jazz left no room for negotiations.

Scatterblade frantically tried to reopen the comm. ::Wait. How did you get Charlie's comm?:: he was trying to keep the anger down, but it flared painfully. Charlie had told them that Attinger and Cemetery Wind had examined her arm, pulled it apart and left her with barely a working structure.

::I would like to go,:: Hound said.

::Jazz, Hound, and I will go to the location,:: Prowl stated.

::Attinger was with Cemetery Wind. Be careful,:: Scatterblade demanded.

::Remember, Lockdown was buddy-buddy with him,:: Blindside chimed in.

::We will return as quickly as possible.:: Prowl hesitated for a moment. ::Monitor comms; if we run into trouble we will send a warning.::

::Got it,:: both mechs pinged off.

The three mechs set off immediately, leaving the camp even emptier than before.

"I'm going to do a patrol," Arcee stated as she too headed off.

Scatterblade leaned against a tree, reigning in the distress and fear, using his anger to burn it away.

Silverdust trotted over to Scatterblade, curiosity on her small face. "Where'd they go?" She asked quietly.

Scatterblade smiled down at her, his hands resting on his knees. "They're looking for our friends," he said in an encouraging tone. "They'll be back real soon." He picked her up, hugging her.

"Oh," she looked in the direction the others had gone, then back at Scatterblade. "But I wanted to play with Hound." She wasn't complaining, the mech had been too busy to play with her much recently, and she was disappointed that he was leaving.

"He'll be back, sweetie," he said, venting some to keep pushing the anger down.

"Okay. I'll play with Black Cat until Hound comes back."

"Good plan." He touched her olfactory sensor gently and placed her down.


	31. Chapter 31

~*~ Chapter Thirty-One~*~

Day 365

Prowl lead the group to the coordinates they had been given over the unexpected comm, though when they got close Jazz and Hound split to cover the area. Prowl went to meet the contact.

The city was still quiet even for the very late hour of the night. In a large lot at the coordinates sat two vehicles, black with two occupants per car. Three of them were suit types; the fourth wore a simple t-shirt and jacket. The civilian was standing outside the open passenger door, his arms folded against the chill.

Prowl stood before them, looking over the two cars carefully. He was scanning the area and confirmed with Jazz and Hound over private comm that they were in place and ready. "You, I assume, are Cade?" His tone was flat, empty of any emotions or implication.

The man let his hands drop. "Yeah. Who are you?" He stood loosely, looking up at the mech in a subdued awe.

"My designation is Prowl. You have information regarding my missing mechs." There was no question to his voice, simply stating understood facts.

"Yes. In a facility called KSI. I know things have been hard for you. You don't know who you can trust. I want to be the last person to tell you what to do. The auctioneers weren't careful with your friends, so they're back at the building getting fixed up."

Prowl's armor shifted slightly, the only indication of the anger that ripped through him. "What are your intentions?"

"I'm just an inventor. I want to help," Cade said, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"I am inclined to believe that you have good intentions; however, you must understand my current position. I would like to see my mechs with my optics before I will fully consider the opinion that my team may benefit from your offer to aid us."

Cade nodded emphatically. "I do. I had everyone looking for my ass, too. Come to KSI. We'll lead the way. You can see your guys and we'll show you we mean no harm."

Prowl gave a curt nod then transformed back to his alt mode and waited. ::Follow out of sight,:: he ordered the other two.

::Got yer back,:: Jazz confirm.

::Yes, sir,:: Hound agreed.

Cade got back into the car, and the two vehicles drove further into the city. When they approached the building, the cars entered a lot and drove down to the basement garage.

::Prowl!:: Hound called as soon as he saw the building. ::That's the place we found Charlie!::

::Understood.:: Prowl followed cautiously, unwilling to abandon the chance that Blurr and Mirage might actually be there, but also reluctant to be caught completely off guard.

When they stopped the vehicles, Cade exited and walked farther into the garage down a tunnel that was just large enough for Prowl to drive through to an open space. Equipment lined the walls as well as in cubicles through the room. True to his word, Blurr and Mirage were there with a few workers gathered nearby, repairing some parts and checking the mechs for leaks.

Prowl stood when he had room to do so. He saw the two mechs and felt a wave of relief. ::Mirage, Blurr, status?::

::Prowl! You came!:: Blurr's excitement was palpable through the comm.

::We are both functional, final repairs are being made.:: Mirage answered.

::These humans have treated you fairly?::

::The ones that purchased us?:: Mirage's remark was snide, but his tone changed. ::Yes, they have treated us well.::

Cade's phone rang, and he answered it.

Joyce sat on the other end. "Is it safe to come down?"

Cade sighed with annoyance. "Get down here."

Prowl glanced at Cade, his scanners flaring wide to search for attackers.

Cade put the phone away and walked to a work bench. "It's not much, but you'd be safe if you want to stay." He said to the three mechs.

"I doubt that would be wise," Prowl stated matter-of-factually. "Some of my team are not likely to appreciate this place." He looked around recalling what he had heard from Charlie.

Cade was about to ask why but then the elevator dinged in the hall. A bald man with black rimmed glasses walked in.

"So, before any of you step on me, I have to make one thing explicitly clear." He held up his hands. "My company doesn't-" He paused, "Oh, thank heavens, she's not here." He leaned against the door frame.

"She?" Prowl questioned.

"That Hall girl. I was associated with a man who was, quite frankly, insane, and she probably would have tried to throttle me."

"He's dead, is what he's trying to get at," Cade rolled his eyes and refocused on his tinkering.

"I see." Prowl said in his same void tone. He did not intend to provide any information that was not required to get out with his mechs intact.

"I'm probably not in the position to ask with past actions and all that, but, is she alright?" Joyce asked carefully.

"She is well," he answered. "How long until you will release them?"

"Shouldn't be long. Only thing we can't do is refuel. I'm not entirely sure how that works," Cade huffed, going over his findings against KSI information.

"Very well," Prowl agreed without offering anything further. He studied the equipment and the repairs being done. It was an efficient facility; Knockout would likely have even dubbed it suitable.

Joyce rocked on his heels before joining his workers to offer advice.

Cade looked back up at Prowl. "Please, consider staying. I know how hard it is to keep hiding. We have plenty of room and supplies. It's a good set up." He sounded eager but not pushy.

"It is not my decision. Many of my team have been severely harmed, and they would likely not welcome your offer. Trust is difficult to create." It wasn't an outright denial.

Cade nodded, his disappointment clear. "I understand. It's an option. We saw they were in trouble. We had to do something."

"Your efforts are appreciated. If I were the only one I had to consider, I would likely offer you the opportunity to prove your words are true. Thank you for rescuing them." For the first time speaking to Cade, there was emotion in his tone; appreciation, relief, and weariness.

Cade smiled. "You're welcome. Your people saved me. 'Bout time we returned the favor."

"Oh," Joyce straightened and looked to Prowl. "Miss Hall left an item here, before disappearing," he muttered then continued. "I'll bring it down for you take back to her." He then retreated to the elevators.

Prowl waited, though he was entirely unsure of anything Charlie might have left behind.

When Joyce returned, he carried a small blue urn. "I was aware she suffered a loss. She shouldn't lose this, too." Joyce offered the container to the mech.

Prowl put his hand down to accept the incredibly small item. "I will ensure its delivery," he promised. He had no idea what the thing was, but if the human thought it was important to Charlie he would be sure she got it. He did scan it to be sure it wasn't harmful but was only further confused by what he found inside.

Much of the next few hours were punctuated by more offers and a few questions that went unanswered before the workers cleared the two injured mechs to leave.

Mirage stood slowly, testing each move before trusting his weight to it. Blurr, on the other hand, was up and had lapped the room twice, stopping beside Prowl before anyone could grasp that he had moved.

"So glad you came! This place is pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"It is efficient," Prowl agreed.

Cade watched their interactions with a grin, captivated by their personalities.

"So, we are ready then?" Mirage asked, even though it seemed he might want to stay longer. He would follow what Prowl said; the mech always tried to do what was best for them all.

"Be safe," Cade raised his hand in farewell.

"If you do change your mind, door's open," Joyce chimed in with an unpracticed smile.

Prowl just nodded before leading the other two out.

Cade sat down again.

"They'll be fine," Joyce said wiping sweat from his head, "they may not be perfect, but they're pretty darn close." He turned to his employees and clapped his hands. "Alright! We need to get back to the labs. Let's go."

Cade rolled his eyes and stayed in the space, continuing to examine the wreckage they had collected.

The three mechs had driven for several miles before Jazz and Hound joined them.

::Good ta see ya in one piece,:: Jazz cheered, sounding honestly happy for the first time in a while.

::Good to be in one piece,:: Mirage agreed.

The group returned to their camp with no trouble. They were met on their way by Arcee who had been on an endless patrol since they left. The humans in the group were still an hour or so from waking, so everyone had been spared trying to explain the disappearance of the other mechs for which he was endlessly thankful.

Illusory came online at the sound of so many 'bots entering the camp at once. "What is going on?" She asked, soothed that Scatterblade and Silverdust were still nearby. Sidestep was laying not far off; intentionally just close enough to annoy her, she was sure.

Relief flooded Scatterblade at the sound of familiar engines, and he stood to head outside. "Let's go see." He offered his mate a hand up.

She grabbed his arm and stayed close to him, happy to move, yet still concerned with the amount of noise.

Blindside pushed himself to his feet and joined them.

"It wasn't a bad offer is all I am saying," Mirage said as though he was arguing without trying to argue.

"Ah don't trust 'em." Jazz grumbled.

"That was the same place..." Hound pointed out.

"But they explained the whole thing, and it makes sense, we could try at least," Blurr added.

"Good to see you," Scatterblade said to Blurr and Mirage. "How'd it go?" He asked them all.

"Without uh hitch!" Jazz said happily.

"We were offered a safe-haven," Mirage stated.

"By the guy who..." Hound stopped when Jazz inconspicuously jabbed him in the back.

"Fixed up our mechs," Jazz finished smoothly. ::Was th' guy who worked with th' guy that had Charlie,:: he commed to Scatterblade privately. ::Hound recognized th' buildin' an' Prowl says th' other guy admitted ta her bein' there.::

Scatterblade's spirits sank. ::Attinger? What are they thinking?::

::Blurr and 'Raj didn't know at th time, said that they took good care of 'em. Weren't in great condition,:: he gave a pointed look toward the two well-repaired mechs. ::'Raj tends ta appreciate uh job well done. Thinks these guys are serious. Ah say it's uh trap. Prowl is unsure, wants ta put it ta uh vote, but that means tellin' Lu an' Charlie.::

'Lu. Do you want to check on Charlie and the others?' Scatterblade suggested. He wasn't trusting that his reactions would keep the femmes in the dark for long.

Nervousness flared briefly across their bond before being locked down. 'Sure,' she agreed, heading carefully toward the humans' home. She knew she would be all right as long as she stayed calm and went carefully. She wasn't an invalid; she scolded herself sternly. Still, even the short time alone was uncomfortable.

Scatterblade vented slowly to reduce the stress. ::We can't trust Attinger. He's the reason we're in this mess.::

::Ah agree,:: Jazz added.

::But they helped us, and Cade was very kind,:: Blurr pointed out.

::And their facility has a lot to offer in the way of much-needed repairs,:: Mirage tempted, looking to Knockout who didn't seem swayed one way or the other on the matter.

::More humans?:: Sidestep grumbled disgustedly.

::Humans were our allies once - many are good,:: Prowl said, clearly indicating the ones they lived with now and their NEST comrades before.

::So, if I got this straight, the guy that started this whole bad guy team up, suddenly changed his mind and wants to help us out?:: Blindside scoffed, ::I'm with Jazz on this.::

::Should we let the humans know? It might at least be a chance for them to go back to a mostly normal life,:: Hound sounded both hopeful and sad by the thought.

Scatterblade thought it over. Charlie was just as much family as Illusory and Silverdust. Letting her go didn't feel like an option. ::I don't know.:: he answered honestly.

::I was given an item to return to Charlie. I assume she will know where it has come from.:: Prowl told them. ::It would be unfair to deny them that opportunity should they choose it for themselves; they are not ours to decide for.::

::You an' Optimus...mech, sometimes Ah think ya came from th' same place...:: Jazz grumbled.

::However; consider that if you tell the humans, that means telling everyone else,:: Knockout pointed out, his implication clear.

Scatterblade vented deeply. Both had a point. ::We all need to know. If we're going to be making any decisions.::

::That's the only fair way,:: Hound agreed.

::Yeah,:: Jazz also agreed.

Knockout vented, checking his diminished stores for what he was sure he would need after this revelation was made.

::Let the humans go,:: Sidestep sounded more like he was speaking out of habit rather than real intention.

::Perhaps Illusory would be willing to inform the humans of our need to speak?:: Prowl looked to Scatterblade.

The front-liner nodded. 'Hey, Lu, would you help Charlie and the others down? We all need to talk.' He masked his tension behind a kind tone.

The femme stumbled a little as she walked, the lack of natural light played tricks with her optics. 'Is something wrong?' She felt out of the loop that something had been laying under the surface, and now it was going to explode in their collective faces. She was just approaching the small cabin the humans had taken shelter in and stood to wonder how to get their attention, or if she needed to be quick and get them all to safety somewhere? But where and how would she manage?

Scatterblade felt the panic from her. "I'll go help her." He told the others, before letting Illusory know he was coming.

The other 'bots waited patiently while Scatterblade went to help Illusory. The femme looked worriedly to him when he arrived, sure that he had bad news. "What is it?"

"We're all going to talk about it," he said nodding with a reassuring smile, though it was probably more for himself.

She vented, trying to calm herself. "Okay." Turning back to the cabin she crouched down to tap on the door gently.

Charlie pulled open the door. "Hey. What's all the commotion?"

"Group meeting," Scatterblade said.

"Okay..."

Rex followed, curious. "I'll get Vance and Myra."

Scatterblade waited until the humans had gathered and helped carry them down. Illusory did her best not to panic as they went back to the main camp.


	32. Chapter 32

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Two~*~

One Year

When they all arrived, Scatterblade positioned himself close to his mate and nodded to Prowl. The proverbial cat was about to bust out of the bag.

Rex spotted the returned mechs and felt a wave of relief. "You're back! Good to see you're safe."

"Thank you," Mirage nodded.

Prowl turned to Charlie. "The people who helped Mirage and Blurr had an item they wished me to return to you." He looked doubtful for a moment, then produced the small urn.

Charlie looked confused. Then her breath caught, a mixed look of horror and astonishment took over her. She took it gingerly in her hands. A few times she tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"He said he thought you had lost enough. I am unsure of his meaning but it was not harmful, so I did not see any reason to deny his offer."

Rex looked at the tiny urn, knowing exactly what it was. Anger, sorrow, and thankfulness ran through him all at once. He just hugged Charlie close to him not knowing what else to do.

Charlie stared at the urn. A light came back to her eyes, but it wasn't gratitude. She glared at Prowl, past him. "Attinger helped you?" She began shaking with angry tears. "Attinger is the reason for all this!" She almost fought the arms holding her, barely registering that these were supposed to be safe. Rex kept hold of her, not wanting her to do anything that might hurt her.

"No...it was another man named Joyce and his partner Cade." Mirage suddenly didn't sound so confident.

"Hound warned us that the building was the same one where they had found you. They were hospitable," Prowl added.

"They were tryin' ta trick ya Prowl," Jazz growled, still confident that it was a trap.

"Then why did they repair us?" Mirage asked.

"Why?" Charlie echoed, her knees started to weaken.

Scatterblade shook his head. "It doesn't matter. We stay together, and that's that."

"Of course," Prowl agreed. "However, we thought it only fair to make you all aware of the offer to return; he promised safety. Though knowing what I do know, perhaps it is not a wise choice. Still, it is an opportunity for you humans to return to a mostly normal life away from the danger that being around us causes. And, to be fair, the offer was extended to all of us, if any 'bot should wish to accept the offer, we cannot - will not," he gave Jazz a meaningful look, "stop you from accepting aid. The choice is everyone's to make."

"No way," Rex said firmly. "We have stayed with you guys through all of this; we'll stay until you are all safe." He looked at Charlie, thinking about her want to go home and suddenly doubted himself. "Right?"

Through all of this, Illusory had remained surprisingly silent, her part of the bond between her and Scatterblade felt cold as the deepest parts of space and numb.

Scatterblade stood beside her, feeling her distance with worry. 'Lu?'

Blindside shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. Attinger hated us. Who did you see? What did he look like?" Blindside asked, the conflicting information bugged him.

Prowl sent an image capture of the man to all the bots around him so they could see the man, along with the image of Cade. "These are the two men I spoke with."

Charlie looked at the images produced for the humans to see as well with confusion. "I don't know who that is, but that's Joyce. He's the head of the company that was building copies of you." She clutched the urn and Rex. "That's not Attinger."

"What do you mean copies of us?" Scatterblade asked, his tanks churned.

"They had Ratchet's head in their basement. Melting it for the metal," she said her voice small and sad.

There was a moment of silence among them, remembering the grouchy medic.

Prowl was the first to speak again. "We cannot assume to know what may have happened to seemingly change his mind. I cannot even assume that he has changed his mind in fact. There is the chance that all of this is a fabrication to instill false hope..." saying it aloud seemed to be almost too much for the mech. They could do with hope at this point. "The odds...are against this being an honest offer."

"But..." Blurr looked lost for words. The man had saved Mirage and him. He had them repaired as well as he could. He hadn't asked for anything in return.

"I will stay with my senior officers," Mirage stated after a short internal battle. He knew, no matter the odds, he would stay with Jazz and Prowl. They had gotten them through so much, how could he take a chance like this without them at his side?

"To the Pit with them all," Illusory finally broke her stunned silence. A hot fire of hate roared across the coldness of their bond, her intent focused on finding and destroying the people that had hurt Charlie.

Scatterblade recoiled from the sensation, though physically he was stunned to his spot.

Charlie shook her head. "I don't think we have all the information." She sounded as if she were in a daze, the shock of this revelation was astounding.

Blindside thought this all over. He hadn't recognized the men as Cemetery Wind, but there was much he hadn't seen when he was locked up on the ship. Locked up in Lockdown's ship, he snorted to himself at the pun. "What if we had someone go check it? Get the full story, eliminate hostiles, that sorta thing..."

His friend could see where this was headed. "You're falling apart as it is," Scatterblade said, recovering some from the mental/emotional attack from his mate.

"They fixed them up. At the very least I get some problems taken care of. No offense," he said to Knockout.

The medic waived it off. He knew that the repairs he had been able to do were far from complete.

"More information would be highly beneficial to figuring the probable outcome," Prowl said, "but no one should go there alone."

"Don't think anyone should go there at all," Jazz piped in. "But if ya want intel, that's muh gig. Ah'll go."

"No!" Illusory argued. "What if it is a trap? We can't lose more friends," her voice shook with rage and fear.

"We can't just sit around forever hoping things get better on their own either," Vance spoke up, having made his decision. "I'm going too. We can at least check it out."

Scatterblade shook his head. "This is crazy. You're crazy," he said to Blindside.

"Probably, but if it settles our processors enough, that's what it has to be."

"It is the best way to obtain a better idea of what we are facing," Prowl agreed.

Illusory only became more upset by this. In her processors, she could see no good coming of this and couldn't understand why any of them would want to risk it.

"Alright, plan in motion. Let's get to it!" Jazz wasn't willing to wait around debating the fact.

"You should recharge and refuel first," Knockout insisted. "No sense in going in half done already, is there?"

"Point taken," Blindside said eager to catch a few breems.

Jazz just nodded and set off to do what he did.

Vance, after calling for someone to get him when they were ready, went back to the cabin to sleep a little longer and wait.

"They cannot go," Illusory pleaded with those that were still there. Scatterblade kept shaking his head, reaffirming Illusory's stance. Rex kept his arms wrapped around Charlie, still shaking with shock.

"Charlie?" Rex rubbed her arm gently. "Let's go back." She nodded numbly and followed.

"We will keep alert," Prowl assured Illusory, but could not promise that the three of them would be okay. If this truly was a trap; odds were far higher that they would never see them again. With that thought fresh in his processors he turned and walked away. There was nothing else he could say.

"This isn't right," the femme continued. Her anger was turning to a morbid fear. Was this going to be their fate? Taken away a little bit at a time until they were all gone?

"Things haven't been right in a very, very long time, femme; you should be used to it by now." Sidestep said with hardly a care for it as he trotted away.

"I'd better get back to comms," Hound offered uncomfortably as he slipped away too.

"Guess that leaves patrol," Arcee likewise left to continue her task.

"Lu, let's go rest," Scatterblade said before turning to his comm. ::Be safe, slagger.::

::You know me, Scatter.::

"Rest?" She scoffed. "They're just going to go, just like that and you want to rest?" She was full of confusion. Why wasn't anyone else going to stop them? How could they protect each other if they willingly let their friends go into enemy hands? Her frame trembled with her distress. "Look at Charlie," she pointed out as Rex led her away. "She was there, she knows..."

Scatterblade shook his head. "I don't know. What Blindside said makes sense. Attinger wasn't there. At least not initially. And I'm not forgetting that Charlie's been through hell. If it is safe there, how better off we will all be? We have to start picking up the pieces someorn. Sooner preferably than later."

"Pick up with the man that helped destroy our home? That took everything we had away?" She remembered that moment so clearly, remembered the fear for her, for their sparkling, for her mate who had been taken from her there. She felt the panic rising in her again but was too angry to care. "They'll do it again!" She felt the need to run away, to take Silverdust and hide, but the sparkling was nowhere near her, and she didn't know what to do.

"Hey, hey," Scatterblade held her gently, both hands clasped on her arms. "We don't know that. Life is never that black and white. You know that."

She whimpered, just holding back from shouting. "Ah can't cope with all that again," she looked at her mate. He was there in front of her, trying to comfort her. She was safe; she tried to tell herself that, but it just wasn't sinking in. "They deactivated Ratchet..." her processors ran through the list of the mechs she had learned to trust that were now gone. "Sides, Sunny, Dino..."

Scatterblade couldn't keep fresh sadness from blooming. "I know, it's not fair. But if they wanted to hurt us, they wouldn't have let Prowl bring them home."

"How can you be so sure?"

He looked so torn. Should he just comfort her, protect her from the questions and fears or tell her that they could never know the answer to everything? He finally shrugged, half laugh and half vent of defeat. "I'm taking after Charlie and trying to be optimistic. Not blindly, but the information we have doesn't add up. We're do a break, right? We can't keep getting hit like this forever."

His words weren't comforting. "Life isn't that fair," she spoke softly. "I will not risk Silverdust, you, or Charlie because we're due a break...just doesn't happen that way."

Scatterblade vented again. "I know that. I don't want to, either. But I can't live without hope. There is no use worrying about it right now. Not until they get back. And they will come back," he said firmly.

Illusory couldn't say anything. She wanted to believe him, to trust in his words, share his hope, but inside she just felt like everything was falling apart again. A certain level of acceptance came with it though; there was nothing she could do so she just had to live with it. "Whatever happens will happen," she said finally.

"We'll deal with it together," he said, resting his head against hers.

She tried to relax. Her frame was so tense her protoform was shaking. "Okay," she agreed through the defeat she was feeling. "I still do not think they should go."

Scatterblade nodded. "Let's get Silverdust."

She nodded and followed him to where Silverdust was still napping. Illusory wondered briefly how she managed through all the noise. Scatterblade tried to talk about simple things, but the usual small talk wasn't cutting it. To Illusory, time seemed to both crawl and fly by. She tried to keep her thoughts on Scatterblade and the conversations he was trying to have with her, but she kept coming back to the fact that Jazz, Blindside, and Vance were leaving and she was sure it would be the last they saw of them. Silverdust had onlined and tried to coax Illusory into a better mood in her own way, but that only seemed to make it worse. Eventually, Sidestep came to lure the little femme out to play, sensing Illusory's dark mood might be turning to something worse. He had heard the femme had glitches, sometimes aggressive ones, and thought to do what he could in this particular situation. He didn't really care why the femme was having issues, just that he didn't want Silverdust to be in the way if it turned bad.

Jazz came into the cave to get Blindside when he had deemed enough time had passed. "Vance is on his way down. We'll be headin' out in uh couple'a breems," he explained.

Blindside stood and stretched, having been off his feet for far too long. In his opinion, at least. "Let's stop gawking. We'll be back," Blindside said, moving toward the exit.

Scatterblade rolled his optics.

"Good luck," Illusory offered emptily.

"Hey, we will be back," Jazz scolded, though in a gentle tone. "Never been uh trap Ah couldn't get out of."

"There is always a first time."

"Not fer meh, femme." He gave the pair a rather winning grin then turned and left.

Illusory offlined her optics and leaned into Scatterblade, fear and frustration mixing with grief. He tried to show her positivity, taking her emotion into him to ease the build up. It was painful, like a blocked valve, pressure built up behind it. The pain felt physical, accompanying the tumult across their bond. Fear, frustration, anger, sadness. It was overwhelming. He thought he could handle any pain she shared and burn off any anger and stop any glitch, but this was compounded over months and months of stress. His armor rattled, and he tried his best to calm it. Illusory tried to pull her emotions in, block them off. She was enough of a burden as it was without doing this to him too.

Scatterblade held onto her, afraid to let go. 'Don't, ' he begged, 'I don't want to be alone.'

'You are not alone,' she promised, 'but I have leaned on you too much. I just want to ease my burden on you.' She vented with more frustration when her emotions swelled up yet again. 'You suffer so much because of me.' She tried again to reel in her emotions.

'I'm okay.' He said it only half believing he was lying. 'We just need to let it pass. Happy thoughts,' he said lamely.

'Yeah,' she agreed just as lamely. Still, she made an effort to turn her thoughts to something happier. She thought of their home and how happy they had been there, but right on the heels of that happiness came the grief of losing that home. She thought instead of Scatterblade and Silverdust, but there also lay the constant fear that they would be taken or deactivated. Everything she could think of had something else tagging after it that dragged her right back to the spot she was in until she just started to feel numb to it. 'I can't seem to believe anything will ever be okay again,' she admitted finally.

'That can't be true.' He had nothing to back it up, but he still thought it. 'There has to be...' Scatterblade stopped and released his grip on the anger, fear, her raging mixture of emotions. It seemed just to implode, his resolve for being positive crumbled. 'I'm sorry.'

'You have no reason to be sorry.' She felt her frame losing the tension it had been building; accepting the dark pit of hopelessness seemed to be so easy now. There was no reason to keep fighting it.

'I've been able to help. I shouldn't let stress do this.' Fight. That's all he had known. That's the way life was for them. Until he met her and they began a family. That should have been it. Happily ever after, like Charlie's stories. Scatterblade tried to laugh, to smile. He needed to. If not for the growing cold from Illusory, but for Silverdust at least.

'It is okay,' she hummed soothingly. 'You have had more than your fair share.' She almost felt relief at how easy it was just to give in. 'You have been my strength, and I have put too much on you unfairly.' She let the numbness spread through her. 'I think I will recharge for a while,' she thought about it for a klik before asking, 'is that okay?'

'Yes, I'll be here.' Maybe not fighting was all right. Just for a little while. Maybe.

She slipped so quickly into recharge that her frame hadn't fully settled before she was out.

Not long after Sidestep returned with Silverdust sitting on his back. The little femme looked worried, not afraid or scared, just that she knew something was off.

"She wanted to come be with you two," Sidestep explained as Silverdust slipped off him and trotted over to Scatterblade, holding her arms out to be picked up.

Scatterblade smiled wearily, but he smiled and lifted her to his lap.

She patted his leg gently. "Okay?" She looked up at him with bright optics full of love and far too much understanding for a sparkling her age.

"Just tired and worried."

She looked at Illusory, sound in deep recharge, then back to Scatterblade. "I'll help," she promised with firm determination. "It's okay." She wrapped her arms around him as best she could and started to hum like Illusory did when trying to coax her into recharge.

"Thank you, sweetspark," he hummed nuzzling her softly.

Sidestep watched the exchange with warm amusement, then left the small family to care for each other. He still found it surprising that such a young spark seemed so very strong.

Outside the cave he found Prowl watching after the direction the two mechs and human had gone not so long ago, though he knew by now they were unlikely to get them on scanners. He considered saying something to the once Second in Command of the Autobot army but decided he had nothing worth saying and went off to patrol the area. 'Such sensitive bots,' he thought to himself, though he tried hard not to acknowledge how it warmed his spark to see that there were still 'bots that could care for each other in the universe.


	33. Chapter 33

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Three~*~

One Year

Blindside reveled driving again. He hadn't been able to drive in this new form since he adopted it. He couldn't keep to the speed limit; the desire wasn't there.

Jazz was hardly one to obey speed laws so gladly paced Blindside. ::Ya ready fer this, mech?:: Jazz asked. They had decided the easiest plan was the obvious one; Blindside needed repairs that Knockout could not do without a proper facility so they would go in under that guise. Jazz would keep an optic on him when he was under their care and hack the building's systems while he was at it. Vance was going to 'tour' the facility and look for anything suspicious, while also listening to the idle chatter of those working there.

::Ready for fragging drag racing,:: Blindside laughed as his engines coughed, ::well, once I get put back together.::

::Ah'll take ya up on that when we get this all done and over with.:: There was a faint sense of longing in Jazz's tone. ::Been too long since Ah let loose fer fun.::

::Deal.:: Blindside rolled down his windows and filled his cab with fresh air. ::How far do we have to go?:: he asked.

::Not far enough. Like it better if these guys were on th' other side of th planet. We'll be there pretty quick.::

::Slag,:: he swore. It certainly wasn't long enough, but when they arrived Blindside felt a little sluggish. His foresight in bringing a few small cubes of energon only made him feel a bit better.

Jazz drove up to the building as though he had no concerns about being there. Vance looked around for some form of call button to alert those inside to their presence. The doors that led to the underground parking and lab entrance lifted. Not hesitating for a moment, Jazz drove right in, though his scanners were going as fast and far as they would reach looking for anything. He was surprised by the lack of locks from the inside out. Apparently, they did not expect escape attempts. When they arrived in the space below the building, it looked much the same as it had, although it was slightly more cluttered and only had a few people. Cade was working at the bench and looked up at the sound of the vehicles. Jazz got close enough, then stopped and let Vance out.

"Hey," Vance called out with a wave. "I was told by some friends that this was a good place to come get some repairs?" He nodded his head in Blindside's direction. The orange mech stood, using a nearby storage box to steady himself.

Cade's eyes widened. "Yeah." He mobilized the three men with him to start looking the mech over. "We'll do what we can."

"Whatever you have, I can add on," Blindside said then sat down. "Let's see what you've got."

Cade walked over to Vance, his hand outstretched. "Welcome. I'm Cade Yeager. It's nice to see they have friends."

"Vance Kip," he shook Cade's hand firmly, looking the man over a little. "Thanks for the help."

As soon as Vance was far enough away, Jazz stood and stretched. "Nice place ya got," he watched the men examining Blindside carefully, but made it look as though he were far more interested in the scrap laying around than what they were doing. Granted, a lot of the scrap was very interesting too. It didn't take him long to remotely patch into the buildings security and start hacking from there into the deeper systems. He was sure what he wanted was going to require a hard link, but he would start here. He was careful not to set any alarms or to leave a trail that could be followed.

"Wish it was mine," Cade said, wistfully. "Joyce built his company from the ground up. He was working robotics for years before-" Cade stopped. "Before all Hell broke loose. Again, I'm really sorry. For everything."

Jazz glanced down at the man. "So, when did ya find out 'bout all of this?" He waved his hand around, including himself and Blindside in the gesture.

Cade chuckled, a little nervous. "I hid Optimus in my barn." He nodded like he had just confessed he had smoked pot as a teenager. "Cemetery Wind blew up my house and my daughter, and I helped him get away."

Blindside blinked. "Wow."

Jazz was shocked. That was definitely not what he was expecting.

"They blew up your house?" Vance had seen what Cemetery Wind was willing to do, but blowing up a home? Then he remembered Charlie, Illusory and Scatterblade's home had been destroyed too. "So, how did you end up here?" He looked around a little uncertainly.

"Actually, it might have been because of Lockdown. He was shooting at Optimus." He scratched his head. "Long story short, we rescued Optimus, stopped Galvatron from destroying Beijing, and Joyce is letting me stay till my house is rebuilt."

"Who's Galvatron?" Blindside asked.

"Joyce built him using Megatron's head and Brain's help. And apparently, Megatron wasn't all gone. Optimus said it's Megatron reincarnated."

Blindside balked at the man. "Son'va glitch."

Jazz could not believe what he was hearing. "Where is Optimus?" If they could find their Prime, maybe all this would make sense.

Cade sighed. "He went after the ones who hired Lockdown to capture him. Something called The Creators."

"He left?" His voice was flat. "Who went with him?"

"No one." Regret was heavy in Cade's tone.

Jazz made a sound that could have been either a laugh or a cough. "Prowl's gonna love that!" He vented then leaned against a wall. "Where's Megs – Galvatron, Ah mean."

"We lost track of him in China," Cade said.

Jazz shook his head. "Even better."

"So...you teamed up with the guy that brought back Megatron?" Vance did his best not to show the level of his anger involved with that name.

"Not initially and, in his defense, he didn't know he was doing that," Cade explained. "Joyce didn't realize what was going on, til it was too late," he ended lamely.

Vance nodded. He didn't doubt that was probably exactly what happened.

"How was Optimus? When he left." Jazz questioned.

"He killed Lockdown, and Attinger," Cade said, solemnly. "He'll be back." Though he didn't say it with confidence.

"Yeah, Ah'm sure he will." Jazz's processors were working overtime searching for answers and integrating what he had been told. Optimus had left them with an unknown location of a reincarnated Megatron. "How many other 'bots have ya found? 'Raj and Blurr aside."

"We were able to find Bumblebee, Drift, Crosshairs, and Bulkhead."

"Bee? That's good ta hear." It really was a huge relief to him. "Good ta hear about th' others too. Bet they were uh fun lot ta run around with. Where'd they go?"

"It was an experience," Cade laughed. "They're around. First thing they did was dismantle the facility downstairs."

"Yeah, about that," Blindside turned to look at the man. "Who's down there?"

Cade looked taken aback, blinked a few times. "Who?" Then a knowing air fell over him. "When Joyce had it running, he had to melt down his supplies," he said as gingerly as possible.

Blindside turned away, keeping the shutter from reaching his frame.

A flash of rage rushed through Jazz. "His supplies were friends of mine."

"Lots of good mechs were taken down," Vance spoke up before Jazz lost his temper. "I suppose Joyce didn't know that either."

"I know. I'm sorry." Cade sat back down at his bench. "No one understood. They didn't understand your sparks. Optimus and I talked a bit. He helped me see the truth. I'm so sorry."

"Can't change it now," Jazz vented. "Least we know Op is still functional. That's about as good as we can get these orns."

"Some good news is better than none," Vance agreed.

"I'm just trying to fix Joyce's mistakes. Optimus wanted to leave early on. He thought the four we found were the last. Saving them was his priority." Cade tried to smile.

"We appreciate what you're doing," Vance said. "Blindside needed the help for sure."

Jazz felt less confident about this all being a trap and more confused than he liked being. What information he was getting was supporting what Cade was telling them.

"Joyce is figuring out how to dismantle that ship we rescued Optimus on downstairs," Cade said. "Well, part of it is downstairs anyway."

"Which part?" Blindside sat up, at the protest of the man sealing his tanks.

"It detached from the ship."

::That's where I found Lu, Blade, and Silver. L.D.'s trophy room. Jazz, I saw Lockdown take sparks and keep them there.:: He had already talked with Knockout about trying to house those sparks again, bringing friends back to them. The prospect seemed even more viable now that they were right on top of the stolen sparks.

Jazz jumped on the prospect. "Mind if Ah take uh look?"

"Yeah," Cade said, "The code is 1819."

Jazz headed off, not needing to be told where - he had the building's blueprints already - he hadn't needed the code either, but he wasn't going to tell anyone that. The tunnel gradually sloped down and turned before lowering once more. It opened up into a main room below; the ship sat laid out in four cross sections, presumably for easier transport. Carefully, Jazz picked around the first section. He took note of some interesting things he found, but not what he was here for. He moved on to the second, then third before a signature registered on his scanners. ::They're here,:: he commed in disbelief. ::There's sparks here!:: He examined the holding cells for the sparks, afraid to do anything in case he accidentally deactivated them. ::Ah dunno, mech. Might need Knockout ta look at this. Unless ya know uh whole lot about spark cells?:: He recognized several signatures, but one stood out at the moment. Ratchet. Not only a close friend but a highly skilled medic. They needed him badly.

::We have our answers. Let's get him out here,:: Blindside said eagerly.

::Have ta get where comms will reach.:: He was excited, but at the same time confused. He had been so sure this was going to be a trap that he hadn't considered that it might not be.

::Well, then go stretch your tires. Find these other 'bots he was talking about.::

::Would like ta see Bee again. Could probably get more details. Ah dunno bout leavin' ya an' Vance here though.::

::We'll be fine. I'm not too sure about this Joyce guy, but Cade seems pretty solid.::

Jazz debated it on his way back up to where he left the others. ::Won't be far,:: he promised. "Ah'm gonna step out, clear muh head." He kept walking, not waiting to see what the reaction to his actions would be.

"You okay?" Vance asked.

"Yeah," Jazz waved but kept walking.

Cade looked confused but didn't say anything. He continued to talk to Vance about how the last few months had treated him. Vance shared a lot of what had happened to their group of bots and people, though kept details minimal just in case they ended up not being able to trust him.

Jazz set out for a high point where he was sure that Hound would be able to receive his comm and sent an update, then sent out another comm searching for Bumblebee and the Wreckers.

Crosshairs responded to the comm only nanoseconds after he had sent it. ::Jazz, you little slagger! Where are you?:: His joyful response followed by Bulkhead.

::Glad you're still kicking.::

Then Drift, ::It's so good to hear from you.::

::Jazz! Thank Primus you're still online!:: Bumblebee trilled happily.

::Good ta hear yer voices!:: He all but crowed. ::Ya been up ta some trouble Ah hear.::

Crosshairs laughed. ::Wreckin's in the job description.::

Jazz cut straight to the chase. ::Ya mechs got somethin' on this Joyce character an' KSI?::

::You mean the guy that thought he could build better versions of us?:: Bumblebee clearly still had some hard feelings about that. ::Turned out to be a pretty decent guy.::

::Definitely a dick, though.:: Bulkhead added.

::No argument there,:: Bumblebee agreed. ::Why do you ask?::

::At his place right now, tryin' ta decide if Ah'm gonna blow th' place up or not.::

::You're not serious, are you?:: Bumblebee was unsure if that off note in Jazz's tone was sarcasm or that strange side of him that enjoyed what he did a little too much sometimes. The mech was scary when he let himself go.

::As much as that place has been a source of pain, Yeager is trying to make amends.:: Drift pointed out.

::He's a pretty good soldier when he has to be,:: Bulkhead said, impressed.

::Would ya trust him with yer spark?:: Jazz asked, ::With other sparks?::

::Cade?:: Crosshairs asked.

::He's a good man,:: Drift said.

::Yeah,:: Bulkhead added.

::He's alright.:: Typical. Crosshairs never trusted anyone fully.

::What's got you so serious about this guy, Jazz?:: Bumblebee got the hint that there was something more important in the question.

::Just gotta consider all sides, Bee.::

::Who's with you?:: The young scout pushed.

::Just uh pirate an' uh NEST soldier. Came with meh ta check th place out.:: Jazz realized he was being vaguer than he needed to be and vented. ::Joyce offered ta help us, Cade seems ta know uh thing or two 'bout repairs an' we got uh couple that really need it. Came ta see what kinda trap this was...startin' ta think it ain't uh trap at all.::

::Not anymore, it ain't. We stormed this place with Prime to find out who kept picking us off. That and Attinger had captured Cade.:: Bulkhead said.

::Yeah, saw what ya left behind.:: He felt a little thrill of excitement. ::There's sparks in that wreck of uh ship they hauled in. Gonna have Knockout check it out, see if we can put 'em back in frames.::

::Knockout? When did he switch sides?:: Bumblebee was surprised at hearing the Decepticon medic's name.

::Not like that, Bee. No sides anymore, just survivors.::

::Hold up, we're running with 'Con's now? You've got to be fragging kidding,:: Crosshairs protested.

::Stop glitching out on us. You'll live.:: Bulkhead sounded put out with the mech.

::Perhaps we'll finally see peace. At least among our race.:: Drift said hopefully.

::We all gotta depend on each other now, mech. Knockout's th' only trained medic we got online - saved our afts uh few times. It ain't gonna be easy, but so far, it's workin'. Mostly.::

Crosshairs laughed again. ::I'll believe it when I see it.::

::Oh, shaddap,:: Bulkhead groaned. The two dropped out of the comm, most likely to beat on each other.

Drift then asked the question they were all wondering about. ::Will you accept his offer?::

::Dunno, mech. Not really muh choice in th end. Thinkin' muh vote's gonna change though. Still...there's uh sparklin' ta consider, makes everythin' more difficult.::

::You've got Silverdust?:: The joy in Bumblebee's voice was barely contained.

::Yeah, Blade an Lu too - the whole family.::

::That's the best news we could hope for.:: Relief and gratitude filled Drift's voice. Bumblebee was entirely too happy to hear the news.

::If ya can keep th other two under control, Ah'll send ya ta where we're stayin' fer now. It's not pretty, but we're there. Maybe ya can even help th others make up their processors where we're goin'.::

::Anything to keep us together. We need the unity, now more than ever,:: Drift agreed.

::Prowl will be happy ta see ya.:: He sent the coordinates to the two mechs still on the line, knowing they would wrangle the others well enough, then sent another message to Hound, warning him of the incoming that Jazz cut his comms and headed back in.

"Feel better?" Vance asked, a touch of uncertainty in his voice.

"Much. Got uh hold of Bee an' th' Wreckers. Sendin' them ta Prowl."

Cade looked up disappointment on his face, but he quickly hid it with a smile. "Glad to hear you got a hold of them." He said, sincerely.

"Oh, lovely. We could always use more Wreckers," Blindside vented, any joy or excitement now squashed.

"They're good mechs," Jazz said with a grin that clearly finished 'that are a lot of trouble.' "Prowl will keep 'em under control fer now." He looked over the progress on Blindside with approval. These guys had a working knowledge of Cybertronian biology. ::They're on board with Cade here,:: he told Blindside. ::An' Knockout's on his way.::

::What does the family say?:: Blindside asked, evident unease in the question.

::Dunno, Ah have uh hard time belivin' anyone will convince 'Lu. If we can get those sparks back inta functional frames, it would be easier.::

::Maybe, if we really want to split up again, we'll give them an option to come with or stay. Not without protection,:: he said, ::obviously.::

::We'll see when we get there.:: He didn't like the idea of letting the small family be out on their own, not with people still out hunting them. ::Think 'Blade might have ta make that call.::

::Of course.::

Cade knew there had to be a conversation going on that he wasn't hearing and couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. "How much longer will you stay?" He could guess they weren't all moving in. At least not just yet. A man could hope.

"As long as we need to I suppose," Vance answered with a shrug, unsure what conversation was going on between the bots either.

"Actually, Ah got another mech that wants ta take uh look at th wrecked ship ya got," Jazz spoke easily. "Assumin' ya don't mind."

Cade smiled brightly. "Absolutely. I've been meaning to look it over myself."

"Good, he'll be here shortly." Jazz smiled. It was kind of nice to see someone in good spirits, and he decided he rather liked this human. It reminded him of someone.

Cade walked with Jazz back down to the dissected ship. "When I was on board, I found a weapons room. It had bad ass stuff there, but I'm more stoked about what else this thing is hiding."

"Oh, it's got uh few secrets, Ah'm sure..." he wondered if he should tell the man about the sparks hidden safely in the third section, whether he should ask about building frames or not. "Ship like this always does," he decided to wait for Knockout.

"So, I had a question. Their decor was... strange. Nothing that made it look like it was meant for war. I could'a sworn that I saw suits of armor. What were these ships for?"

"That would'a been one fer Prime. Ah, don't know too much about th older ones. Most'a what they sent out back then were science an' mining ships. Not really muh thing." He looked over the ship again to see if he could determine what kind it had been. "What kind of armor?"

"Looked medieval, to be honest," he said, looking over the inventory on one of the screens at the table.

Jazz looked a little confused. "Maybe it was just somethin' Lockdown collected somewhere." He kept looking around, noting this and that while they waited for Knockout to arrive. Cade was continuing to run inventory as they moved through the ship parts together.

"What do we have here?" Knockout asked as he sauntered in a few hours later, looking over the wreck. "What a mess."

"Lockdown's hobby. Looks like it crashed uh little." Jazz smiled. "Cade, this is Knockout. Knockout, Cade."

"Cade?" The medic got a sour look on his face. "Knew a mech that went by that designation once. Had no sense of style."

"Good to meet you. Though this isn't the entire ship," Cade corrected. "I'll leave you guys to it. I've got to finish the inventory."

"Sounds good," Jazz lead Knockout back to the vault holding the spark cells. ::They salvageable?::

Knockout scanned them carefully, a look of stunned awe on his face. "They're alive..." he spoke softly. Full medic mode kicked in, and he started pulling each spark forward for deeper examination. ::He preserved them well enough...yeah, we could - in theory - put them back in frames. Assuming we can get frames to put them in. However,:: he scanned a spark that he remembered and shook his head a little, ::I don't know that all of them should be.::

::First, we gotta find some frames. We'll worry 'bout who an' how later."

After a few more hours of observation, Cade left the room, heading upstairs to get some sleep. Knockout got himself entirely wrapped up in the sparks, identifying and cataloging them into priority levels. Jazz left him to it about a joor into it, using the late hour and lower staff to search out anything and everything about Joyce and his company and his current intentions.

He did stop to check in on Blindside. "How's it goin'?"

Blindside vented happily. "I'm feeling so much better. Just need some more energon and rest."

"Great! Well, Knockout's down below, he has some good thoughts, but there's lots uh work ta do. Ah'm gonna take uh quick stroll around. Ya rest up, we can head back when yer ready. Got uh lot ta talk about."

"That's good. I'll be here. Don't go breaking anything," he grinned.

"Meh? Ah'd never." He smirked as he headed off, looking like he didn't particularly care where he was going, stopping to look at this and that as he went. He eventually came to the central data storage unit and was in with all security protocols off or diverted before anyone had a chance to spot him. He quickly tapped the system and started going through everything. He found a lot of things he didn't like - a lot - but even here data matched up to Cade's story. For all that it could be seen, Joyce was becoming a public defender of the Autobots. "Well, this is going ta get uh little complicated." He slipped out, put everything back to the way it was when he arrived and went back to wait for Knockout and ponder.

Knockout came from the basement quite sometime later.

"Whats th verdict?" Jazz asked as soon as he spotted him.

"Some good, some bad, some...well, let's just say the list is long."

Blindside roused from recharge at their voices. "What's going on?"

"Nothin' yet." Jazz stretched and got to his feet. "Rested?"

"Yeah," he shook out his frame as he stood. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had been in this good of shape.

Knockout looked over the work and nodded with approval. "They did alright," he said with a shrug.

"Let's get goin'" Jazz turned to head out.

"I'm going to stay here. See what they have by means of building frames that can support sparks."

"Alone?" Jazz was very uncomfortable with this.

"I'll stay and help out," Blindside offered. "I can help with the technical side. Heavy lifting that sorta thing."

"Ah don't think this is uh good idea."

"I'm not leaving all those sparks unprotected. One curious human can do a lot of damage. It's amazing that they didn't accidentally deactivate the whole lot of them when they cut the ship apart."

Jazz still didn't like it. He vented. "Alright...keep in touch. Listen fer Hound."

"Sounds like a plan." Blindside said.

Collecting Vance on his way out, Jazz sped back to the camp. He couldn't imagine how all this was going to end, but he was sure there was going to be a struggle.


	34. Chapter 34

Note to the readers: You may have noticed a discrepancy with the characters Hound and Bulkhead.

In the movie, Hound was with the Wreckers and joined with Prime - however, our story already had Hound with our team, and roudyred and I both agreed the mech in the movie was more aligned with Bulkhead than Hound anyway. So, tiny switch with creative licencing. Hope you can accept the inaccuracy as a small glitch and follow along anyway.

* * *

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Four~*~

One Year 2 Days

Bumblebee led the Wreckers to the coordinates Jazz had sent, leaving an open comm. Even though he knew the saboteur would have warned the others that they were coming, he didn't want to surprise them.

::Hey, Bee,:: Arcee was waiting for them beside a tree large enough for her to hide behind if she had needed to. "Good to see you again."

"Pleasure is all mine!" The young scout responded with a movie clip. "Is this the right path?" Asked yet another voice from some TV series.

"Yeah, came to lead you the rest of the way."

Crosshairs and Bulkhead had since made up and followed Drift and Bumblebee into the trees.

"Hello, Arcee," Drift greeted, "it has been too long."

"Good to see you in one piece," Bulkhead grinned.

She smiled happily at seeing them all. "I'm surprised you're all in one piece," she teased. "Thought you mechs would have torn each other up by now."

"I'm not sure how ten ton over there survived, but I've never been better," Crosshairs said with a smirk.

"Heard that," Bulkhead said as he passed the mech, smacked him on the head.

Crosshairs growled a warning back at him

Arcee pushed off the tree, looking them all over to check for severe damage. She was surprised at how good they looked. "Come on; Prowl's waiting in camp."

Prowl was indeed waiting for them when they got to the camp, Blurr was just getting ready to head out and offered a quick hello as he passed.

"Welcome to our glorious camp," Mirage offered with a heavy tone of sarcasm, though there was a small smile on his face to indicate he was trying to lighten the mood a little.

"It has served our current needs well enough," Prowl stated. "I am happy to see all of you."

"It's great to be here!" A game show host exclaimed as Bee looked around the small area. He wasn't sure what he hoped to see, but this wasn't it.

"Small's better than nothing," Crosshairs muttered as he walked toward the rest of camp.

Bulkhead spotted a familiar face. "Hound! Good to see ya!" He went over to catch up.

Drift stayed with Prowl to talk more about what the group might need. The tactician was thankful for another processor to put toward their current needs, while Bulkhead and Hound got caught up.

Sidestep stayed to the edge of the clearing, unsure of these new mechs.

Scatterblade came down from the cavern at the new voices. He waved to the yellow scout. "Bee!" He continued climbing down.

Illusory came to the front of the cavern but did not come down. Silverdust made quick work of the climb, charging Bumblebee.

The yellow mech dropped to his knees for the little femme, trilling happily as she leaped on him. "Good to see you!" An overly excited voice called out. "How's the family?" He glanced up to where Illusory stood.

"We're alright. Good to see you, too." Scatterblade glanced to Illusory. 'Do you want to stay up there?' He asked gently.

'Yes, tell Bee I said hi. I'm happy to see him still online.' She slipped back into the cave, uninterested in any further interaction.

'I will, love,' he assured her.

Bumblebee looked concerned by her retreat but trusted that there was nothing serious for him to be concerned about. ::Want to update me on everything? What happened to you guys?::

Scatterblade shook his head with a half laugh, half vent. "Yeah," he found a spot against a tree. "Get comfy. We've been doing this for just over a year.

"We were attacked at the house. Charlie, Lu, and Silver got away, but I was taken to a facility. I feel like it's been catch and release the whole time. Charlie was taken while everyone had their guard down," he didn't sound angry or annoyed, just repeating the story. "Charlie went through some... trauma. She got pregnant. Rex has been her sanity ever since. We had a nice set up for a while, but then Swindle found us. He's been with Lockdown. Charlie got hurt, and Knockout couldn't perform the birth. So Rex took her to the hospital." His optics were far away as he recalled that part of their tale. "I couldn't do anything. Swindle had Lu and Silver... and me.

"We were able to get away with some help. Blindside had been on that ship for a long time. He's a friend I thought I'd never see again. Anyway, we got Charlie and Rex out, but they were both really hurt. Charlie had a son, but he didn't make it." Scatterblade paused, going over everything he had said and finding it hard to take in himself.

Bumblebee whistled dramatically. ::I'm surprised you're all still sane. That's..I'm really sorry to hear it. You're all okay though?::

"For the most part," he nodded. "It's been rough. Lu's been off and on. I've tried to anchor her." He sounded uncertain whether he had succeeded or not.

::Well, maybe now things can get better. Joyce is trying to stand up for us...make the public aware of what Cemetery Wind has been doing all this time.::

"That's incredible. To be honest, I never thought we'd get public support." He vented, letting relief fill his spark. "So, you really think we can be safe there?"

::Safer anyway. I won't be so bold to assume it will be without troubles, but I think maybe we can at least relax a little; recover.:: Bumblebee looked at the 'bots that had been staying in the camp. ::Sure looks like everybot needs it.::

"We could really use the R&R," Scatterblade said quietly. "I'll talk to Illusory. Hopefully, I can change her mind."

::Change her mind?:: He couldn't imagine what she might not be interested in. They were being offered a safer place to stay and repairs they badly needed.

"Charlie was held there for a while. Anything that might scare her won't win Lu over easily," Scatterblade explained carefully.

::Oh. It's different now; I can promise that. I saw it before...:: he tried to ignore the well of grief he felt about what they had discovered there. ::But Cade's making a huge difference, and Joyce is trying.:: He remembered how protective of Charlie Illusory had been before; he couldn't imagine how things might have changed after what they had been through.

"It'll have to be a combined effort, then," he laughed tiredly. "How's your year been?" He asked dryly.

::Not as exciting as yours. Stayed hidden in the desert with the Wreckers trying to get some news on Optimus. Then he showed up with Cade and a couple of kids in tow. We went after Attinger, learned some things I wish we never had...Lockdown came along...:: he vented, shaking his head at the amount of slag that had happened in such a short time. ::It's been a few crazy metacycles.::

"No slag," Scatterblade vented. "Do you want to come up and say hi?"

::Yeah!:: He set Silverdust down and stood up, looking up at the cave. ::If she doesn't mind.::

'Hey, Lu? You up for one visitor?' He emphasized the number.

'Who?' Her tone remained listless, mostly disinterested but not willing to ignore her mate.

'Bee. It doesn't have to be a full-blown conversation,' he teased lightly.

'If he wants,' she agreed.

Scatterblade nodded his head toward the cavern. "Come on up."

Bumblebee followed the mech to the cave, only pausing long enough to watch Silverdust run off to find Sidestep.

Illusory was sitting with her back against the wall when the two mechs entered. She tried to smile, but it was weak and empty. "Hello, Bumblebee. It is good to see you."

The yellow scout looked her over, seeing even more how the past year had treated her. Her armor was patchwork at best, dings and dents marked whatever was left of her old armor. The most startling thing though was that she had a visor - a familiar silver-blue visor - covering her amber yellow optics, causing a sickly green glow.

::I'm happy to see you've all pulled through.:: He made soft, almost sparkling-like sounds as he got closer.

Scatterblade smiled encouragingly, pushing past the emotions still drifting along their bond to send her warm rushes in hopes that would bring some life back to her.

"For what it is worth, yes. Here we are." She felt Scatterblade's efforts, and she felt a little lifted. She even looked like she might be interested in talking with Bumblebee for a moment. "Whats left of us anyway," and that glimmer passed back to the gloomy indifference. Doing a rather decent job of not showing how much her behavior saddened him, Bumblebee trilled quietly, sat down in front of her and just started talking about anything he could think of. Sometimes she would answer, sometimes not, but Bumblebee kept on talking anyway. A part of him thought that maybe if he just kept talking she might snap out of it. ::She been this way long?:: He asked with concern over private comm.

::Yes.:: Scatterblade replied. ::Hope has been something very hard to hang onto.:: He sounded like he was in the same rut. Still, he continued to send her pleasant warmth.

Bumblebee didn't know what to say. He felt bad for both of them; he wanted to offer some great thing that could bring them both around. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for Scatterblade, trying to help Illusory when he needed it himself. ::I think there is some hope still,:: he said finally, even as it became apparent that Illusory had tuned him out and was starting to drift back into recharge. ::Just hang in there.::

::I keep trying,:: Scatterblade said positively. ::Let her rest,:: he coaxed Bumblebee outside. 'Rest well, love,' he said to her, before making his way down. "I'd like to check on Charlie. Come with?" He asked the scout once they were outside.

"Try an' stop me!" The scout answered with another clip.

Scatterblade chuckled at his eagerness and led the way farther up the hill to the small home.

Bumblebee admired the small construction, musing that humans could make themselves comfortable anywhere given time to do so.

Myra was outside, moving things around and generally looking like she was trying to keep busy.

"Hi guys," she looked at Bumblebee for a second before it clicked in her head. "Bumblebee! When did you get here? Where have you been?"

"Not long...hangin' with my bros!" He answered with broken clips.

"He just came in with Bulkhead, Crosshairs, and Drift," Scatterblade said, a smile still on his faceplates.

Charlie appeared at the door, a surprised smile on her face. "Bumblebee!" She latched onto his knee in a hug.

The mech trilled happily to see Charlie, patting her gently in hello.

Rex, hearing Charlie's excited call came to see what was going on. A broad smile came to his face at seeing the yellow mech. A deep sigh of relief escaped him. "Great to see you made it."

"The Wreckers are here," Myra told them with half a sarcastic tone.

"Wreckers?" Charlie asked and pulled away from the mech, chuckling.

Scatterblade explained further; "Drift, Bulkhead, and Crosshairs."

Charlie still wasn't sure if she had met them.

"Fun guys. Loud, destructive, but pretty nice generally speaking." Myra offered her opinion. "I'm going to go say hi."

Charlie nodded. "Okay. So, have you heard from Prime...or Lennox?" She asked timidly. She hated to dampen their celebrating but this was the first time they had found anyone who might know what was happening.

"Caption is off the bridge," Bumblebee offered in a familiar sci-fi clip. "Major Tom...still unaccounted for," he continued in a mix of music and news clips.

"What does that mean?" Charlie asked.

"Optimus is off-world," Scatterblade supplied. "And Lennox is still missing."

Bumblebee nodded, pointing to the sky to confirm.

"Why? Why would he just leave after all we've been through?" Charlie tried to keep her voice even, but her eyes spoke volumes. Hurt, and a little anger flared there.

Scatterblade knelt down to her. "He thought it was best." He said, hoping not to go into the full story. It was confusing even for him.

"Sure," Charlie said shortly.

"Chuck," Scatterblade said quietly, a touch of exasperation in his tone. It was hard enough dealing with Illusory's bad mood. Adding Charlie to it was another level he just wasn't ready for.

She pursed her lips and didn't speak.

Bumblebee hadn't been happy when Optimus had left – he left them all with the orders to protect the humans – still, he felt like he should say something, but what? "The search for the truth is never-ending...sometimes we don't see...the rest of the story." It was the best he could do for Charlie, patching together short clips to offer something that might have been an explanation. She deserved better.

Charlie opened her mouth to retort, but she stopped. She let out a huff of air. "But he's okay?" She asked finally.

Bumblebee nodded. "More or less," he quoted.

"Bee said Joyce is turning his company around," Scatterblade began, hoping to fill her in on the good news.

Charlie snorted. "Not supporting kidnappers anymore?"

Scatterblade gave her a withering look. "He's trying."

Charlie matched his gaze, mixed with sadness. "He may not have killed them, but he was playing Dr. Frankenstein with our friends." Her face hardened. "I'm not forgiving that anytime soon."

Rex listened to the conversation; he also saw that there was more to it. Still, he also knew that Charlie's grudge was well founded, and he himself was unlikely to trust the man for what he had done. "What changed his mind?" He asked uncertainly.

"A day in the life...when one door closes, another opens..." Bumblebee offered with a shrug. ::Optimus happened,:: he told Scatterblade. It was the best he could think to explain what had happened.

"He met Optimus. You both know what that's like," Scatterblade offered to help Bumblebee explain.

Charlie kept her opinion silent. She was having a hard time believing even Optimus was able to convert the man.

"What's everyone else think?" Rex wrapped his arms around Charlie, offering his support. He was glad that at the very least she wasn't arguing pointlessly.

"The Wreckers seem to appreciate what they're doing," Scatterblade said.

Bumblebee clicked and nodded his agreement. In his opinion, Joyce had done a complete turnaround, but he knew that it wasn't that simple for everyone.

"That's something at least." Rex sounded hopeful.

"Jazz and Vance took Blindside in for repairs, and Knockout went over to check on them," Scatterblade explained. "It's looking promising."

Charlie looked up him, her eyes softened. She wanted so badly to believe him, but the fear and anger were still too potent, too raw.

"We'll just wait and see when they come back. I don't think anyone is quite ready to forget." Scatterblade still felt resentment, but he was willing to consider that things do change.

Charlie nodded and leaned into Rex.

Scatterblade vented softly. ::We should head back to Prowl and see if has anything for us to do.::

::Yeah,:: the scout was saddened by the dark spirit clinging to the refugees here. Life had been far from kind to any of them, but it seemed to have struck hardest here. He waved goodbye to the humans and headed back with Scatterblade.

Charlie managed a smile and a half wave, but when their backs were to her, she dropped the guise. "Rex, I don't know what to think," she admitted softly.

"We will just wait and see. It's hard to think anything but the worst...but maybe, I don't know, but sometimes people do change. Especially when they've had to see things first hand. Maybe running around with the 'bots opened his eyes." He sighed. "Or maybe he's just a man taking advantage of the situation."

Charlie walked inside and sat against the wall. "I had a friend once, Nate, he had seen them at their worst and judged them harshly. After he knew, he still..." Her breath caught, and she coughed to clear her throat, "he still didn't care."

"The only way to know for sure is to give him a chance. He did repair Mirage, Blurr, and now Blindside. Not that I'm standing up for the man, just an option."

Charlie shuddered, her thoughts turned to the urn that had been returned to her. "Maybe you're right, but I don't know if I'm ready for that." She stood and took a deep breath. "I'm going to make food." Her answer to any indecision: delay it.

"Whenever you are ready, there's no need to rush. " He followed her, intending to help, and perhaps take her mind off of things for a while.


	35. Chapter 35

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Five~*~

One Year 2 Days

Scatterblade watched the group like one might look at a bomb about to blow; apprehensive and tense. More pointedly he was holding onto Illusory's bond, ready to brace against the wave of outrage he knew would be coming. A glance at Charlie showed her face red, eyes fixedly down trying to keep herself in check. Rex wasn't sure what to think of it all. It sure sounded like Joyce had been serious and this Cade guy had stood up for them, but Optimus was gone? Bumblebee did his best to add to the descriptions, adding video images where he could, sounds where they were helpful, and was generally feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Mirage and Blurr seemed willing to support Cade and Joyce. Prowl was dismayed to hear that Optimus had left them yet again, this time setting off alone, but he would do what he had to in his leader's absence to maintain the orders given. Sidestep listened to the whole thing with a bemused air. He could care less about any of it, as long as his head wasn't put in danger, he would do as he pleased.

Illusory only half listened to it all. The emotional pit inside her growing deeper and colder. "Optimus abandoned us." She said softly. Scatterblade tried to warm her against that emotional cold, but it was like a black hole, taking in the warmth but changing nothing.

Bumblebee shook his head, making plenty of clicking and buzzing sounds as he tried to deny her claim.

"He has not abandoned us," Prowl stated, though it seemed far more out of loyalty than true belief. "He will return when his current task has concluded."

"How long will that take?" Charlie bit. "Sure, you might be around..." She took a deep breath to silence herself.

Prowl acknowledged Charlie's concern with a slight nod of his head. "We have no way of knowing that at this time." He couldn't promise that any of the humans would see the Prime again; their life spans were far too short. "Until then, we will..." he stopped, realizing he was prepared to command all of the beings around him - human and Cybertronian - forgetting that he had promised they could choose for themselves. "I will continue to follow his standing orders."

"Aye, aye, captain!" Bumblebee agreed with another movie clip.

"I stand by my previous statement; I will follow my commanding officers," Mirage added.

"This is not something that must be decided now, but everyone needs to choose for themselves," Prowl continued.

"Ah might have somethin' ta weigh th' scales," Jazz stated as he sauntered back into camp, setting Vance down to join the other humans.

Illusory immediately noticed the two missing mechs and a mix of panic and despair washed through her before settling back to the yawning pit. "Are they gone too?"

"What?" Jazz looked a little surprised by the question, though it was entirely put on. He expected someone to note the absence of Knockout and Blindside within kliks of his arrival. "Those two? No, they just stayed back fer uh bit cause of what Ah'm about ta tell ya." He paused for dramatic effect, though he was aware that the tension was already too high to let it linger. "Joyce an' Cade salvaged th' ship th' Wreckers made off with...it's got sparks on board. They're in lockdown - spark cells - but they're still pulsin'. S'why Ah called fer K.O. He an' Blindside are tryin' ta arrange fer them ta get some frames built." He vented and shook his head. "Think maybe Ah was wrong 'bout all this bein' uh trap."

There was a stunned silence while everyone let that sink in.

"Who's sparks?" Sidestep asked the obvious question.

"Well, ya'd have ta ask Knockout. Ah didn't scan 'em all muhself, but there are some friends there - probably uh lot of friends so long as we can get everyone ta play nice."

Charlie's jaw dropped. "You can do that? Put-put them all back in frames? Bring them back?" Awe and apprehension tinted her voice.

"It's tricky, but it's possible," Scatterblade said.

Jazz shrugged. "Knockout wants ta try. Figure what's th' worst that can happen?"

Charlie's first instinct was to say 'zombies', but hope started to warm up her chest.

"So, think it's down ta pickin' time. Ah'm puttin' muh vote ta go." He looked meaningfully at each person and 'bot there. "Place checks out."

"The people there seem friendly," Vance added. "The shoot to kill order on us has been lifted..." he said this as though he knew there would always be some who would still be out to kill.

Crosshairs, with arms folded, leaning against a tree, lifted a hand. "Let's keep in mind the resident 'Cons. The humans find out you're not 'bots, it won't be very pretty." He looked to Sidestep.

"Alliances don't matter," Scatterblade said firmly.

"Maybe not to us," Crosshairs shrugged.

Sidestep gave a quiet growl in Crosshairs' direction, but otherwise didn't 'bother to respond.

"They don't really seem to be able to tell us apart anyway," Arcee quipped a bit sarcastically. "If we don't make a big deal out of it, it won't matter."

"I hate to say that's true," Myra spoke up, "but even as soldiers we depended on the 'bots to identify who was friendly and who wasn't."

"So, mum's the word. Problem solved," Bulkhead said, elbowing Crosshairs.

"So, does this mean were going to take Joyce's offer?" Hound asked hopefully.

"That is for everyone to decide on their own," Prowl stated firmly.

The Wreckers turned their attention to the humans and the small family. Scatterblade turned to Illusory. He knew better than to persuade her one way or the other. 'I'm going to support your decision,' he told her.

Illusory stared blankly at the ground, searching for something that would give her an answer - any answer - but had nothing. The emotional emptiness was spreading. 'Wherever Silverdust will be safest...' it was the only rational thing she could think of.

Scatterblade tried to push back his panic at feeling her so distant. The longer this apathy sat where her warmth used to be, the more scared he became. So he thought about her request. It gave him something to do, he thought; he could decide where his family would be the safest. "We'll go," Scatterblade said finally.

Charlie's anger was morphing. She was conflicted, now more than ever. Rex wrapped his arms around her, giving her a wall to hide her from the others while she worked through her emotions. "Whatever you choose, I will be with you."

Charlie took longer to decide than Scatterblade. She leaned into Rex, relief flooding her. "I..." When she spoke it was with a gravely voice, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "I'll go." She sounded more defeated than decided. "For Ratchet." She hadn't meant to say it, but it made her feel calmer about the decision.

"Then we are all decided?" Prowl waited for any objections. When none were coming, he gave a short not. "Hound, inform Knockout and Blindside that we will be coming. Have them alert our hosts."

"You got it!" Hound headed for the ledge he used to get a longer range and called to the two mechs with their decision.

"It's going to be okay," Rex promised Charlie, hoping that he wasn't lying to her.

Charlie nodded, her frown still etched on her face.

Scatterblade took Illusory's hand; the emotional distance was too overwhelming. She gripped his hand in return. She knew she should be bothered by her lack of feeling, but she just wasn't.

It wasn't long before they all gathered their things and headed back to the place causing so many conflicting emotions among their small group. When they arrived, Cade welcomed them excitedly and organized the KSI workers to move out the storage containers to make room for the 'bots.

Prowl, Mirage, Blurr, and Jazz had no hesitation as they came in. Hound was eager to talk to all the new people. Sidestep was uneasy but found a dark spot near a wall where he felt safe. Arcee stayed with Bumblebee who seemed completely at ease here. Illusory, much to everyone's surprise, gave no sign that she would react in any of her usual ways. With Silverdust tucked neatly in her arms, she simply went, ignoring the new people altogether.

Rex stayed with Charlie; Vance offering to show them what he had seen while he was there. Myra remained cautious but curious and joined in on the short tour. Charlie walked around with tightness in her chest remembering when she had been taken down these halls before. Everything had been so hopeless then. So broken. She had to shut her eyes in the elevator to help ease her nervousness. At one point she muttered to Rex as a distraction to herself that he still owed her a swing.

Rex smiled at the reminder. "You will get your swing," he promised.

Scatterblade couldn't keep his emotions from showing. His nervousness was plain, and he gravitated to a corner to talk to Illusory. 'Lu, please. What are you-' he paused to reign in his emotions, 'Lu, please talk to me.'

'It's okay,' she said softly. Her look was still blank; her optics paled across the visor. 'As long as you and Silverdust are with me, I am okay.'

The calm confused him, but he let it ease the tension. 'I feel like I'm falling. This can't be good for you.' Regret filtered to her for having given up right before a light was in view. If he had just held out a little longer, kept her buoyed just another few days, maybe she wouldn't feel like this.

'I am okay,' she said though she wasn't entirely sure about that. Still, it didn't much matter to her. 'Try not to worry.'

'I'm not,' he said, finally realizing what he meant to say. 'I'm not okay. I'm worried all the time. I thought I could just let fate carry us for a while, but it has been so cruel to us. I can't not care. I was wrong. Lu, I can't do that to you or Silver...' The rambling felt endless to him, more painful the longer he went.

There was a moment where fear spiked through Illusory, but it too faded to the cold void. 'It has been difficult...' she couldn't say it was going to get better because she was still convinced that it wouldn't. She searched for something inside, anything she could offer to comfort him but found nothing. She turned on their bond and sought out his discomfort and dragged at it, pulling it into the void inside herself. If she couldn't assure him, maybe she could take some of the weight away.

Panic lit up inside him. 'Lu, no. I just said that I can't not care.' He gently shut down her advance, holding her hand. 'Thank you. I love you, but don't do that.'

She looked at him confused. 'I do not know how to help.' She wanted to help him - it was one of the very few things she knew for sure: help her mate and protect their sparkling.

'You're fine,' he said, tiredly. 'If I don't feel this now, I might not know when I'm feeling better.' Maybe if he got her angry, flooded her with emotion again, he could reverse the damage he had let happen to her. A tiny part of him screamed that it was irrational. It tried to remind him that he couldn't always fix everything.

'Maybe you should recharge for a while.' After all, that's what everyone kept telling her to do. It must be meant to fix a 'bot. 'Or energon? I am sure Hound would have prepared what he could before we left.' She was talking, making suggestions, but her spark was hardly into it, and her processor was already wandering elsewhere.

Scatterblade felt the tug away, and he pulled himself a little closer. This emptiness was more terrifying than her glitches and erratic emotions. Finally, he nodded. 'Yeah. I'll be back, okay?'

'Okay.' She pulled Silverdust a little closer but otherwise showed no outward reaction.

The mech stood and walked toward the hall. He sent to a ping to Blindside. ::How you doing?::

::Better. Gotta make it a rule of mine to avoid shrapnel,:: he said dryly, ::You okay? You sound dead.::

::Under fueled, I guess. I don't remember my last ration.::

::I'll grab ya a cube.::

::Thanks.::

::Pep up, Scatter,:: Blindside laughed.

Scatterblade didn't 'bother responding, and when the pirate appeared from the lower floor with a cube, he thanked him with just as much energy as he felt he had.

"Do I need to drag you to Knockout? He's kinda got his hands full, but I'll make him make time for you."

Scatterblade vented and smiled. "I'm fine."

"Okay," Blindside said clearly not believing him.

Prowl made his rounds, checking that everyone was settling in alright. Most of the 'bots seemed to be doing well enough, a little nervous but managing alright. Sidestep was the most standoffish, keeping to himself in a corner away from everyone where he could just watch.

The tactician considered checking on Illusory but hesitated at the distant look on the femme's face. Instead, he turned to Scatterblade. He approached with purpose but not intending to intrude. "How are you settling?" He asked cautiously.

Scatterblade turned to the mech and shrugged. "Okay, so far."

"Sure," Blindside said sarcastically before giving his goodbyes. "Gotta help Knockout downstairs."

Once Prowl moved on, Scatterblade walked the wall again, away from the others and sat leaning heavily against it.

Humans were walking among the new arrivals, offering to help with repairs they needed. There had been a small commotion when one of them had tried to pet Sidestep. He had not appreciated the gesture and had chased the people off, growling and hissing. Hound intercepted, keeping the quadruped from causing any harm and had quickly explained to the people that he was a mech - not an animal - and valued his personal space. Sidestep grumbled something in Cybertronian about their level of intelligence and stalked back to his corner to brood menacingly at them. The people avoided the mech after that but continued around. When they approached Illusory, the femme pulled Silverdust closer but otherwise ignored them. Silverdust, on the other hand, was excited to see more people and tried to squirm from her femme creator's grip.

"Is that a baby?" One of the people, a young man that had probably been working his internship for Joyce, asked with pure amazement. He kept trying to get a better look at the chirping, squeaking, clicking little 'bot that the femme seemed determined to keep restrained.

Scatterblade pushed off the floor, panic spiking. He practically stomped to Illusory and stood between her and the human. "Hey. Just leave her alone," he said his voice low, almost soft if he hadn't looked so menacing.

"Oh...uh," the man backed away a little, the others with him doing much the same. "We were told to, um, to help out if we can."

"Wanna play!" Silverdust had about all she could take of being held back. There were new things here, and she wanted to explore and play.

One of the women in the group gasped a little. "It is a baby!"

Sidestep crept closer, more than willing to chase the humans again if they did anything at all towards the sparkling.

Scatterblade stepped toward them all. "I said, leave her alone."

"Okay, we're just here to help," the man held up his hands in what was meant to be a calming manner. They moved away as a group, though their interest remained on the subject of a baby Transformer.

Sidestep offered a warning growl as they went, ensuring they understood that the sparkling was protected.

Scatterblade watched them warily as the panic subsided. He sat beside Illusory and put an arm around her. There really wasn't a reason he didn't want them to know about Silverdust. The humans of their group weren't restricted, and these people had only tried to help, but they were new, they were strangers, and with all they had been through he just couldn't let someone with curiosity, good or bad, come anywhere near his family. He felt these thoughts drift to Illusory, being able to let her see his reasons made him feel a little better, showing her he wasn't keeping anything from her. She accepted his reasons readily enough, though there was still apathy on her part. She still wanted their sparkling safe, and she didn't trust these new people.

Silverdust was still complaining that she wanted to go play, looking pleadingly from Scatterblade to Illusory. "Please?" She begged.

With the panic settled he looked down at her. He vented. "I'll go with you, but you can't run off," he said sternly.

"Okay!" She waited for Illusory to let her go, but the femme held tight. There was no feeling coming from her side of the bond, and she didn't say anything, she just didn't let go.

"Lu, I'll be with her. You can trust me." He placed a hand on her arm.

She vented softly, then released the sparkling reluctantly. Silverdust jumped from her arms as soon as she could and bounced around Scatterblade, eager to move. Her face made him laugh, but it only lifted his spirits so high. To not get a response from Illusory, something had to be wrong but who in the entire cosmos would understand what it was? No one would know the first thing about trying to help them on this level.

He shoved the worry away and picked up Silverdust letting her lead the way; he was simply her legs. The little femme wanted to look at everything, fascinated by what the humans had made and the new place. She found games in nearly everything, happy to be able to play. The other 'bots were glad to see the little femme so excited about everything and encouraged her good spirits.

Scatterblade loosened up as they traveled, hungrily feeding off her good mood. He immediately sent that playful innocence to Illusory, hoping to bring her around.


	36. Chapter 36

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Six~*~

One Year 2 Days

Vance led the other three around to the areas he had found during his time here. They found a place to eat and were more than happy to sit in a traditional atmosphere to have a regular meal.

Rex kept an eye on everything around them, trying to see if there was anything worth worrying about. So far, he had nothing to raise suspicion. Charlie was tense for much of the time, but the longer they talked, the more she smiled and joined in the conversation. She began to feel like she might be able to move past this, too. Rex enjoyed seeing Charlie loosen up. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Toward the end of the meal, Cade appeared and asked how they were settling.

"I think I'm okay," Charlie answered him. "I'm actually hoping to - thank Joyce for hanging onto my urn for me," She said awkwardly.

"He's actually not here," Cade confessed.

"Oh?" Several smart remarks came to Rex, but he kept them to himself.

"So does that make you the man in charge then?" Vance asked with a friendly smile.

Cade chuckled. "I wish. Joyce has a hierarchy. I guess I'm more of a liaison."

"So, where is he?" Charlie asked.

"He is cleaning up his mess in Beijing. China is holding his Decepticon-copies, or at least the pieces. Optimus and the others did a number on those machines," Cade practically crowed.

"Except the one that infected all of them," Charlie pointed out, a sour look on her face.

"So, I've heard that you invent; bet you've got big plans now that you have all this tech at your fingertips." Myra's tone was light, positive sounding, but had a definite undertone of warning to it.

"It's like a candy shop," Cade laughed, "but honestly I'm more fascinated by the Transformers."

Charlie giggled and had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing so loudly.

Cade gave her a confused look.

"That's not what they're called," Charlie took a few breaths to calm down. "They're Cybertronians."

"So they weren't actually built by anyone?" Cade said as if the thought had never crossed his mind.

"No...well, kind of?" Vance vaguely remembered hearing the story of when Silverdust came. "I guess their frames are built, right?" He looked at Rex and Charlie for verification.

Rex just shrugged. "Probably better off asking one of them about that."

Charlie nodded. "They can be repaired more easily than we can, but what makes them who they are isn't a sophisticated A.I. They're sentient, same as us."

Cade nodded knowingly. "So, where did their sparks come from?"

"That was Rachet's favorite story to tell," Charlie said softly.

Cade's gaze dropped, and his questions on the subject stopped.

The reminder of their lost friend sobered the group. It had been a long year with so many losses.

Another small group of people entered talking excitedly. It was the same group that had been helping with repairs earlier.

"But it was so little!" One woman said, "how could it be anything else?"

"You're kidding, right?" A young man scoffed. "They come in all different sizes; we've seen smaller ones, and they weren't babies."

"Well, true, but...the way those other two were acting..."

Rex tensed hearing the conversation. "They're talking about Silver," he said, concern lacing his tone.

Vance twisted in his seat to get a look at the group. "They're alive, so they clearly didn't get too close."

Cade watched the suddenly tense group he was sitting with curiously. "What's that about?"

Charlie's heart jumped into her throat. "It's- complicated."

"Can they really have babies?" The man's face shone brightly.

"I- it's not my place to-" Charlie stuttered, her face turning red. "It's not your business."

"It didn't mean to pry," he said apologetically.

"Probably something everyone is better off leaving alone anyway," Vance warned, "Illusory's somewhat of a ticking time bomb. Pretty sure that people poking around near her is asking for a major disaster."

"She's not that bad," Rex offered in defense. It was good to warn people away from her though. The femme had been anything but stable for a very long time.

"Please," Charlie said, "just give them space."

Cade nodded. "I'll talk to everyone. Family is important. If they want privacy, I'll do my best to help them out."

Charlie eyed him suspecting he knew what she had desperately tried to hide.

"That would be good. Thank you." Rex relaxed a little. He was sure someone was going to push the boundaries, make one step too far over the line, then where would they be? "They're good 'bots," he insisted, "just been through a lot."

"I get that," Cade promised.

The subject didn't come up again, but Charlie kept glancing at the other table warily. Rex and Vance kept up a conversation with Cade, catching up on world news and what had been happening while they were all in hiding. Myra slipped off to chat with some other people.

Rex noted Charlie's wary glances. "Do you want to go?" He asked quietly.

Charlie pulled her attention back and forced a smile. "No, I'm okay."

"Okay," he took her hand in his, "just let me know."

Charlie nodded and began playing with his thumb, tugging on it, squeezing it, or just rubbing her thumb along his.

"I think I'm going to go check on Myra, make sure she's not bullying anyone," Vance announced after a while.

"I want to go lie down," Charlie said.

"That sounds like a great idea," Rex stood beside Charlie.

"I'll show you where you can stay," Cade said, standing up.

He led them to the elevator and pressed a button for a few floors up. Many of the panels that Charlie had seen during her last visit were off. Probably at Bumblebee's insistence she thought. As they walked, Charlie held Rex's hand. She didn't feel that fear from before. She expected to feel nervous and to be honest she was, but she wasn't afraid. Rex just looked around as they went. The place was nice, Joyce clearly had money to spare.

Cade opened a door that revealed a living space joined by a small kitchenette. Another door closed, sat toward the back of the room. "There are other rooms for Vance and Myra. I've got one down the hall."

"Thank you," Rex went in, feeling a little awkward in an actual room for the first time in too long. The cabin had been nice, but this was much better.

Charlie recognized the room and grew tense. Nervousness flitted through her, but her mood didn't dampen.

Cade left the couple to get settled.

"You okay?" Rex asked when he looked at Charlie.

"Yes," Charlie said as positively as she could muster. "I'm-" she took a cleansing breath, "I stayed here."

"Here? As in this room, here?" He looked around as if there might be a sign. "We can ask for something else...or go somewhere else if you want."

Charlie shook her head with a deep breath. "I'm okay, it's not like it was torture or anything," she said, her voice shaking. "I finally had a real bed in here."

Rex still looked unsure but accepted the answer. Instead, he drew her against him and held her. "Let's get some sleep," he suggested.

Charlie wrapped her arms around him. "Okay."

It was strange to Rex how comfortable the bed was. He lay with Charlie in his arms but found sleep hard to find. After everything that had happened, here they were coming back into the real world, and it felt completely odd. Charlie lay awake staring off into space. The strangeness of their plight didn't escape her. Her mind was spinning between nervousness and anticipation. The thought of bringing back so many of their friends was tantalizing. She wanted to get downstairs and help, even if she didn't know where to begin, but her musings were interrupted by memories she would have loved to forget.

"Can't sleep?" Rex asked after they had laid there for what seemed like hours.

"No," she said her voice small. "I can't relax. I'm too - wired. I really want to believe it's going to work."

"Yeah, me too." He sighed. "Maybe we can go see the others. See how they're doing. Might help."

Charlie turned over, resting her left arm on his chest. "Not just yet," she said, a craving for solitude itching at her. She pushed up further with her feet and kissed him.

He kissed her back and tried to settle himself. He wanted badly just to feel relaxed and comfortable, but tension kept creeping up his spine as if he expected an ambush at any moment. He realized with a start that was exactly what he was expecting. He sighed again. "I am happy to be with you, whatever you want." He would focus on Charlie and the happiness he felt with her.

Charlie smiled at him, a warm upturn on her lips. "We'll go down in a few minutes." Her smile dropped as another thought came to her. "We should check on Lu and Blade. See how they're doing."

Rex cringed a little. "Yeah," he agreed. His imagination was all too eager to show him too many bad things that might have happened. "Hope Cade followed through with that warning. Who knows what either of those two might do if anyone looked at Silver wrong."

Charlie nodded. Being a human shield was the last thing on her mind right now, but helping Illusory was a priority over her own discomforts.

A knock sounded at the door. Charlie froze and clutched Rex's arm. Rex rubbed her back for a bit before getting up to answer the door. A sandy blonde woman with brown eyes and a sour look on her face stood outside. She wore a dark gray pantsuit; jacket unbuttoned revealing a gray blue button down shirt.

"May I come in?" She asked flatly.

Charlie's eyes widened when she saw the woman. "What are you-?"

"I'm on assignment from the President. I've replaced Attinger, and I'm only here to debrief you," she said, resting bitch-face in full force.

Rex stood mostly in front of Charlie, shoulders square and a grim look on his face. "Why?" He asked, his tone clearly not impressed with her presence.

The woman tilted her head and glared up at him. "Because, when people find out your group has ex-Decepticons, they're not gonna care about the 'ex' part. The government may have ended your truce, but we don't want to give the good guys reason to start shooting again. I'm technically the cleanup crew." She seemed absolutely thrilled to be there. She turned to Charlie. "I need you to know that I'm just working. There was never anything personal."

Charlie stared at her, jaw in a hard line.

"It might be a little difficult not to take it personally, considering everything the government has done for us recently." Rex was tempted to tell her to get out and slam the door in her face.

She nodded to him. "I get that." She sighed through her nose and held out her hand. "Tanya Parks. I'm here to get the truth. That's all."

Rex considered her hand for a moment before taking it and giving one firm shake. "Rex," he answered, not bothering to offer more. He glanced at Charlie, wanting to know how she felt about this. He wouldn't let the woman past him if Charlie was uncomfortable.

"I'm just supposed to believe that you were abusive because it was your job description?" The redhead's face was confused and doubtful.

"No. I don't expect anything. I'm here to ensure that none of your group is hostile."

"They aren't," Charlie said quickly, shortly.

"As I said, I'm here to find out."

"How do you intend to do that?" A deep sense of foreboding washed over Rex. None of the 'bots meant to be hostile, but he knew many had short triggers and an unknown human poking around sure wouldn't have to go far to push some of them.

"You've been with them for far longer than anyone here. Your insight would be invaluable."

Charlie snorted. "Now, you want to ask questions."

Rex gave a heavy sigh. It was a step in the right direction, even if he didn't trust the woman. "Fine," he agreed, "come in and ask your questions." He moved, keeping Charlie behind him and waved the woman in. He felt like he was getting ready for tactical training; his mind spinning around all the things they would want kept secret while thinking of what would be substantial for people to know if they were ever going to have a hope of fixing all this mess.

Tanya nodded and sat on the sofa. "I would like to build a file. Temperament, allegiance, a brief history. Basically a short profile."

"You should already have that information. You have NEST's files." Charlie said sharply.

Rex glared disapprovingly at the woman. Allegiance? They would single out the Decepticons as high risk for sure regardless of temperament. "They're loyal to each other, they're tired and jumpy from being attacked every time they have been seen, and they've all been hiding," Rex stated, covering all requests in a very general way.

Tanya fixed Rex with a tired look but spoke to Charlie. "You can imagine that acquiring the files was easy enough. Keeping them proved problematic. Many of them became corrupted soon after we accessed them. Some kind of sleeper program." She took a deep breath. "This is just as much to keep them safe as it is to keep you safe."

"Sure," Rex's tone was disbelieving, but he couldn't help smiling at the mention of a sleeper virus. It felt like a hit for their side.

Tanya pursed her lips. "How many Decepticons do you have?"

"None," Rex stated firmly. After all, they had said there were no sides anymore, just survivors.

"The red eyes are hard to miss," Tanya said sharply.

"People have all kinds of colors. Lu's are yellow; Blindside's are purple. So what if someones are red?" Charlie said.

"Their eyes don't define who they are."

"Those nasty little faces they wear are helpful, too." Tanya pulled out her phone and flipped through a few screens. Then she turned it to them, the Decepticon emblem stared back at them. "I'm trying to keep everyone safe," she said.

"Then leave them alone. None of those 'bots are out to hurt anyone," Rex spoke soft but firm.

"Their leader is alive. What's to stop them from turning back to him? We couldn't get rid of prejudices in two hundred years, and they've been fighting for four million."

"How do you know that?" Charlie asked.

"It's my job."

"And what would tell you that they would go back?"

"If my C.O. suddenly came back from the grave, my morale would jump." Tanya looked like she could use some morale.

"I seriously doubt these are similar situations." Rex fought back the anger he felt, knowing that would do little but turn this into a shouting match. He felt that this woman wanted to single out the Decepticons for easy blame. Knockout had saved their lives repeatedly; Blindside had risked himself for Illusory, Scatterblade, and Silverdust. Sidestep was nothing if not fiercely loyal to protecting the sparkling. He was sure they wouldn't jump to be back under Megatron's rule.

Tanya titled her chin up and sighed again. "If your group became public knowledge, you'd be under fire again."

"Don't threaten them." Charlie's face pinked. "They're family. I w-"

"You'd write off your parents, your siblings, so quickly?" Tanya raised a brow.

"Family is more than blood." Her hands started to curl into fists.

The agent fixed her with inquisitive eyes. "Do they even know you're still alive?"

Rex took one of her hands into his own. "I think we're done here," he all but growled.

Tanya shot him a look. "Just make some profiles so I can get to work."

Charlie's hands started to shake; she was glad Rex had at least one of them. "Please, leave," she said, her breathing labored. She resisted the urge to lash out at the agent.

Rex stood, willing the woman to do the same. "Goodnight, Ms. Parks."

Tanya lifted from the chair and walked to the door. He watched her go, anger boiling inside him.

Charlie let out a long sigh. "We need to warn them," she said quickly.

"Yeah," he agreed quickly. "Let's get down there before she gets a chance to cause too much damage."

Charlie hurried to the door. The hall was clear, and the elevator ride was agonizingly slow. When they reached the bay with the cross sections of the ship, Charlie was practically dragging Rex behind her.

"Knockout. Have you seen Prowl?" She asked out of breath.

Blindside looked up from where he'd been working, hearing the stress in her tone.

"Last I knew he was with the others. Is something wrong?" He was both worried and weary. Of course something was wrong; things were looking up for them, something had to go wrong.

Charlie tried to calm down. Panicking wasn't helping. "They're a woman who's going to be snooping around, asking questions. If you have to answer, it's bare minimum, got it?" She took another breath to steady her hammering heart.

"Yes, ma'am," Blindside said, part lightening the mood part confused and concerned.

Knockout smirked. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he assured them, turning back to his work.

Rex tugged her on gently; they had to tell the others quickly. Charlie followed him, heart still racing.

When they reached the main hall, Charlie was relieved to see their three 'bots in a corner by themselves. Scatterblade was playing with Silverdust, a distant look about him punctuated with bright optics at the sparkling's game. Illusory sat with her face turned toward Silverdust, but none could claim she was watching. Her expression was void of anything, optics dim. Sidestep laid sprawled across the floor near a wall not too far away watching everything with casual interest, though he tensed at Rex and Charlie's arrival, relaxing once he recognized them. Prowl was talking with Mirage, Bumblebee, and Jazz on the far side of the room.

"Guys," Charlie called softly.

Scatterblade looked up. "Hey," then he saw her panic. "What's going on?"

"Can you get them to come over?" She asked.

The mech nodded and pinged to the others. They all turned, spotting Charlie and Rex and came over immediately. Illusory barely moved, just enough to look more in their direction, but still not actually seeing anything. Rex felt disturbed by the femme's apathy.

Charlie was distracted by the femme and a pit hardened in her stomach. "You need to be careful talking about us around new people. We've already got nosy ones that are curious about Silver. Now we've got someone who wants to register you." She said, softly, in a rush of air.

Sidestep growled angrily at the news. "If they know what is best, they will stay away."

Bumblebee made a sound between soothing and discouraged. He didn't want anyone to overreact to the humans' natural curiosity, but he also knew from personal experience how harmful their curiosity could be. ::We will keep them from Silverdust,:: he promised over the open comm.

"That would be the best route," Prowl studied Illusory, her lack of response confused him. He had come to predict certain outbursts from her, but those were now lacking, and this case in particular, he was highly surprised. "As far as questions, I believe that all future questions should be handled by Jazz." He turned to the mech. "You're knack for speaking without saying anything will suit this situation well until we can determine what course of action to take."

"Ya flatter meh," Jazz grinned. He wasn't looking forward to dealing with more human politics, but he was interested in the game of redirection.

Mirage looked a bit relieved not to have to speak with the humans, it was easier for him not to have to discern what was too much and what was acceptable. He would rather not say anything at all.

Charlie nodded, worry now shifted to Illusory. "Blade, what's wrong?"

The front-liner cringed his optics flicking to the "audience." He shook his head. "I don't know."

"I'm going back downstairs," Charlie murmured to Rex, before giving a small wave to the others as her exit.

Rex followed, not yet ready to leave Charlie alone in this place, even with the 'bots nearby.

"I've - I've never seen her like this," she said, her voice catching.

"It's been really hard for her," he tried, "not that it's been easy for any of us, but...well, she was having a hard time coping." He felt awful saying it like that; like she was beyond help, but he had seen soldiers snap before. Sometimes they went off the deep end, other times they just...stopped. He didn't know if it was the same for their mechanical friends, but he suspected it was. "Maybe it's just another type of glitch she can recover from with time."

Charlie shook her head. "It's almost like when she lost- almost lost -Blade. There has to be something we can do." She felt stubborn, and she liked it. Stubborn was a fuel source. She could burn it until she found out what was happening and how to fix it.

When they reached the bay again, Charlie called out to Knockout.

The medic looked at her, curious why she was coming back so soon. "More warnings?" He asked sarcastically, covering concern.

Blindside put down his tools and joined the three, optics alert.

Charlie glared at the red mech but quickly shook it off. "Something's wrong with Lu."

"What kind of something?" Blindside asked, crouching down to her level.

"She's- I don't know. She's distant, not freaking out about anything, not happy or sad or anything." Charlie's voice kept breaking and her eyes stung with tears. She wrapped her arms around herself to keep them from shaking.

Rex stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her for support. His heart hurt to hear how much it was affecting her.

Knockout vented softly. He had noticed the femme's declining state but wasn't sure what to do for her. "We have better equipment here; maybe I can do a full exam and see if I can find something." He didn't seem very hopeful.

Charlie felt tears slip down her cheeks. "We really need Ratchet," she wept.

He hated to admit it, but Knockout agreed. "Working on it," he said finally.

Charlie looked up at them. "Is there anything I can do?" She asked eagerly.

"Just be with her," Blindside said. "Primus knows, she needs it."

"We just need time, I hope." Knockout agreed, looking to all the spark cages lined up neatly waiting for the next stage. "Hopefully the frames won't take long, and hopefully the sparks take to them." He didn't seem too sure about that either, like he knew there was something missing but not entirely sure what.

"It could reject them?" Panic sparked in her belly. "Has this ever worked before?" It finally occurred to her that should have been her first question.

"Frame transfers? Yes. Recently? No. Outside of a proper facility? Absolutely not." He started scanning the cages again. "Rejection is always a possibility."

Charlie felt her knees waver and she leaned back on Rex.

"Go get some rest," Blindside encouraged, "you look like death."

"Come on," Rex led her back towards the elevator.

"But," she stammered. She didn't have her argument ready. "I-"

"Sleep first, worry later." He insisted.

Charlie caved and walked with him to the elevator. Rex took her back to their room, thinking that he should check on Myra and Vance, give them a heads up about Tanya. He didn't want to leave Charlie though, so decided they could wait until morning. Charlie walked in a daze. When she realized they had stopped, they were back in the room, and that was when she broke. Tired and distraught, she just cried. Rex held onto her, guiding her to the bed where he let her lean on him and let everything go. He couldn't tell her everything would be alright, he couldn't promise that, and anything else just sounded cheap, so he stayed quiet. Charlie cried until she physically couldn't, trembling until she drifted to sleep. Rex lay holding her, feeling lost as to what to do for any of them. His mind turned for a few hours before he finally fell asleep as well.


	37. Chapter 37

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Seven~*~

One Year 2 Days (That Night)

The building had gone quiet; the humans had left hours ago.

Silverdust had played and explored herself out and was currently content in recharge, Sidestep nearby. The other 'bots had either settled into recharge or were helping Knockout and Blindside. A few trading off patrols; old habits died hard, and none of them wanted to be caught off guard.

Scatterblade sat in their corner, thinking about building walls for privacy, to be honest, while searching inward for Illusory across the void. He couldn't find recharge and had been grasping at nothing for quite some time, panic still picking at his spark. Illusory hadn't moved much since they arrived; sitting against the wall, legs pulled up with her head resting on her knees. Her optics were lit, but she could have been in recharge as far as anyone could tell. The empty pit inside her seemed to sap away everything and she felt numb. A part of her had known that this wasn't good, but she hadn't cared. Now she didn't even seem to notice that the lack of feeling was wrong. She just accepted it and let it continue to grow. Scatterblade became more agitated the longer he couldn't reach her. Hands curled into fists, and his systems were heating angrily. The emotion kept flowing into nothing, and it only infuriated him. He looked to Illusory, the pain reaching his face. She just needed to see what was happening was hurting them.

In the silence, the footfalls of one 'bot seemed loud. Knockout felt a little uneasy about trying to approach Illusory, half afraid he might push her right into another glitch, half worried that she would do nothing at all. He looked at Scatterblade trying to judge off of him how things were going; he didn't like what he saw at all. "Scatterblade?" His focus switched to the mech instead.

The mech's head snapped up, anger flaring in his optics. Then he pulled back, venting cold air against the burn inside. "Knockout." He shook his head and stood, he looked lost.

"You don't look so good, what's wrong?" He was already scanning them; the readouts weren't very reassuring.

Scatterblade looked to Illusory, fresh pain blooming in his spark. "I screwed up."

"What?" Knockout looked to the femme again and all sorts of terrible thoughts crossed his processors; had Scatterblade tried to fix her himself? "What did you do?"

"I was trying to help her to relax, ease her stress. I told her it was okay to stop fighting." He grew silent and leaned on the wall, fists clenched. "She gave up because I told her to."

Fresh doubt took over the anger over the possibility of damaging repairs. "I see." He vented with frustration. This was not what he was hoping to find. "I was planning on doing a full diagnostic on her..." 'but would that help' lingered unsaid.

Scatterblade stared at Illusory. "Lu. You have to come back." He knelt and placed hands on her shoulders. "Lu. Come back." He shook her. "Illusory!"

She turned just enough to look at him. "I am here," she said softly.

"No," he barked, "I need you to **be** here. I can't keep doing this. Not having you here," he pointed to his chassis. "I don't feel you anymore. Lu, you need to snap out of this!"

She looked confused like she didn't understand what he was saying. "I don't feel anything," she said after a moment of thinking, "but I am here."

Scatterblade growled in frustration and slammed his fist into the wall. "If I hit you, will you feel that?"

She looked at where his fist met the wall, a split moment of something flickered inside, but it faded away instantly. "Yes," she said though she didn't sound sure.

Sidestep growled softly, moving closer to Silverdust. Knockout watched with shock and barely veiled amusement.

Scatterblade saw that glimmer of something and almost grinned. Anger flared, and he did it again, slamming his fist into the wall inching closer to the femme's head.

Illusory flinched away, that something flickered again, this time sharp and hot, but still only a brief moment before it faded. "What are you doing?"

Scatterblade grabbed her shoulders again and slammed her against the wall. "Waking you up." His voice trembled.

Suddenly, Blindside shoved past Knockout. "Why the frag are you just watching!" He yanked Scatterblade off her.

Illusory was stunned, the shock thrummed through her frame.

Knockout shrugged. "Sometimes tough love works." He looked at Scatterblade, hoping maybe he had reached her.

Scatterblade shoved the orange mech away; optics fixed on Illusory, vents on high.

"Oh, sure. Let's just all lob her around like a ball! That'll fix her." Blindside went to grab Scatterblade again. "Scatter, what are you doing? Scatter," he repeated when he didn't get a response.

The front-liner placed a soft hand on Illusory's face. "Please, Lu."

Her frame shook as she looked at him.

"Maybe we should just take her down and have a look, at least we can get her frame in better condition." Knockout suggested, assuming that nothing was going to happen.

Fear coiled up from the depths of the void inside Illusory, weak but growing.

Scatterblade reached for it hungrily. Then he registered the fear. Fear of him. 'I'm afraid, Lu. I'm so sorry, but I was afraid of losing you. I can't lose you. Please, Lu, I need you,' he begged over the bond.

"I am here," she said again, her voice shaking. Inside the fear continued to spike and panic started to seep in.

Knockout was coming closer, ready to take her with him to the converted lab he had claimed as his new medbay for the time being.

'I didn't know what to do. I never want to hurt you. Lu, I'm so sorry.' Scatterblade tipped and collapsed to his knees, the feedback from her and his own turmoil too much to take all together.

Blindside picked the mech up off the floor, throwing his arm over his shoulder. "Scatter, you hear me?"

"This doesn't look good." Knockout looked over the mech as he grabbed Illusory's arm, prepared to haul her up. He didn't expect her to fight him, so was completely taken off guard when she lashed out, knocking his hand away and slamming her fist into the side of his head. He fell back, rolling away entirely on instinct.

Illusory scrambled to her feet, the fear and panic wild inside her, she turned and ran, using the wall to guide her as she tried to make sense of anything.

"Lu! Wait," Scatterblade pulled away from Blindside to chase after her.

She registered someone chasing her and tried to move faster, looking for somewhere to hide or a way out. She felt trapped in the building. So focused on her search for escape, Illusory didn't notice the large frame that came up in front of her and ran right into him.

Hound was a little surprised, just coming in from a patrol he had taken to get out for a bit he hadn't seen what was happening. He grabbed the femme to stop her from falling. She hit and kicked trying to get away.

"Woah, woah!" He just barely kept hold of her as she struggled. "What's going on?"

'Lu, it's okay!' Scatterblade tried to push past the panic and fear and pull her close. "Lu," Scatterblade stumbled toward Hound. He touched her shoulder. "Lu, it's me. You're okay."

She jerked at the contact but was still held tight by Hound. 'Blade?' She finally reached out over their bond, confusion, and uncertainty following her words. 'What's going on?'

He shook as relief washed over him. "It's okay. Everything's okay."

"What happened?" Hound was still confused by all of this and was looking to the other three for an explanation. He slowly released Illusory when she quit fighting against him. She just stood where she was, shaking and unsure. The fear was subsiding, but the panic stayed, she still wanted to run, to hide somewhere but now she couldn't imagine why.

"Nothing to worry about, " Knockout answered easily as he approached. "Just some delayed reactions most likely."

Scatterblade pulled her into his arms. "Lu, I'm so sorry." He trembled, emotions tumbled off him. All he could do was apologize, over and over.

She leaned into him; the shaking began to fade along with the panic. "I am okay," she assured him.

"I think we should head down and get started," Knockout suggested, leading the way. He kept a calm outward appearance, but he felt an edge of wariness - concerned the femme may flip again.

Scatterblade looked over to the medic and nodded. 'Come on. Come with me.' Fear still had a grip on his spark. She went with him, numb complacency returning. Scatterblade began to panic, 'No, please. Lu, don't slip away. Please,' he begged.

'I don't know what else to do,' she admitted. 'It's too much...' a vague echo of the fear, the panic, all the anger, and pain drifted through before fading again. 'It's easier to just...' what did she call this? What was it? It was empty and easy, cold and numb.

'Please, I can't follow you where you're going. Let me in, let me help you.' He had a hard time focusing on walking, let alone talking to her.

Knockout observed the pair quietly, noting several symptoms of things he didn't like between them. Sparks and bond ailments were not something he knew how to treat.

'I don't think anyone can help me,' she said it like it wasn't any concern, like wondering over simple things that had no real effect on anything. 'It's okay,' she continued, trying to assure him.

'Illusory, I don't know how to get you to understand.' He vented harshly, pulling in cold air to reduce his physical stress. 'I was wrong to let you give up. I can't do this without you. It's not okay. It hurts so much to reach out to you and not know if you're there. Lu, please.' His pain turned to rage, and his grip on her tightened. 'I can't do this!'

She turned inward, searching for something, anything really. She didn't like hurting her mate, but how could she fix it? She went through memories, searching for something strong enough to move within the numbness. Faint flickers of hope, despair, and happiness danced through her but didn't stay long and only seemed to feed the void. She recalled the pain and uncertainty of Silverdust's arrival, the adoration of their sparkling, the day she and Scatterblade bonded brought so much love that for a moment she felt alive again, but it too started to fade. 'I cannot seem to hold onto anything,' she said with deep sorrow.

The flow from her searching struck him deeply. He pulled his own feelings to the surface, feelings he hadn't wanted to remember. The pain from his experimentation, the loneliness when he was free, exhilaration at finding a friendly face on a strange world. He pulled it all up. Meeting Charlie, her light, and warmth, her positivity, her innocence. The first few years of peace, every picnic or visit to the beach, every drive. Oh, driving! They hadn't been able to drive for the Pit of it since this all began. They stopped walking, and it jarred him from the reverie. Knockout's lab fell into focus.

"Let me take her driving." He said out of the blue.

Blindside stared at the front-liner like he'd lost all the connections in his processor. "What the frag are you talking about?"

"Driving?" Knockout all but laughed at the thought. "We just got here," he waved to the makeshift medbay - by far better than anything any of them had seen in quite a while, but it still had the air of a laboratory to it.

Illusory didn't seem interested in the room, or the conversation, her focus was still turned inward, dwelling on the emptiness there.

Scatterblade shook his head dismissively. "Fine, after. I can't keep hurting her to bring her around."

"We'll figure it out," Blindside said sure that they would. "You're stressing yourself out. You need to rest."

"I **need** her to wake up," he said, in sheer exhaustion.

"We'll do what we can." Knockout guided Illusory toward the table he had confiscated. She went without resistance but froze when he instructed her to get on and lay down.

"I do not want to," her voice was so soft, Knockout had barely heard her speak.

"It's just a quick diagnostic, maybe some little fixes that we can do now to get you by until we can have the other parts we need found or made. Trust me, even the repairs **I** made were crude. Now that we have better equipment at our disposal we should get you more up to code."

Scatterblade leaned against another table, all of his emotion kept flowing outward and when he reached for her, each time he pulled back he felt a little colder. It was like touching cold fire; a freezing burn. He didn't speak, his attentions too far inside.

Knockout waited another moment before prompting her again. "It won't take long."

"No, I do not want to."

Knockout vented. Moments like this were when he missed treating Decepticons; he could just knock them out or shock them until they couldn't argue anymore. "I only want to help you get better," he pushed.

'Lu, please.' Scatterblade groaned.

"Why not?" Knockout growled when she continued to stand frozen.

Uncertainty sparked inside her at the question.

"Okay," Knockout said in a soothing tone as he came a little closer. "I'm not waiting all orn," he grabbed her around her chest, pinning her arms and injected a sedative quickly.

Fear rushed through her again as the drug took effect. Her frame went lax before her processors shut down. 'Help!'

"That's better," Knockout cooed soothingly as he placed her on the table.

Scatterblade's spark spiked but it didn't last. He felt relieved, but it bothered him terribly. The mech felt his knees give out and he reached for the table for support. Blindside was there before he hit the ground and guided him to a berth.

"You too, Scatter. Rest," he warned.

"It would do you both good." Knockout was already busy hooking up the equipment they had. "I can give you a sedative too if I need to."

Scatterblade flinched, recoiled and had to shake it off. "Please."

Knockout didn't think twice about giving Scatterblade the sedative. It made his job easier to have them both completely out anyway. "Might as well take this time to check him out too," he suggested to Blindside as he started on Illusory.

Blindside watched his friend offline his optics, a feeling of dread built in his tanks. He vented and began working. "I don't know what we're looking for. It's not like I knew any bonded pairs that I could theorize off of," he mumbled.

"That makes two of us," Knockout agreed. "Just...look for whatever you can find...any repairs we can do. It's bound to help some."

"Better than doing nothing," the pirate nodded and began his scans.

"Slag!" Knockout growled a few breems later. "Femme's almost empty!"

"What?" Blindside looked up from repairing a burnt-out fan. "I thought Scatter was on top of that." He checked the mech's levels. "He's practically running off of reserves."

Knockout grabbed infusion equipment, dropping half by Blindside before returning to Illusory. "Let's get them up to running level." He tried to remember all energon rounds and whether or not he had seen either of them refueling. He could call up a few times he had delivered energon, less that he had witnessed either of them take in the fuel. It was enough that he didn't think either was avoiding it. "Can you remember seeing either of them refuel?"

Blindside shook his head with a humorless laugh. "Once, right after we got the refiner working."

"Well, that's probably half their problem right there." He continued to grumble as he set the infusion rate to fill the femme's tanks at a reasonable pace.

"Dammit, Scatter," Blindside spat as he set the front-liner up with the equipment.

As they continued to work, Knockout kept adding more energon to the infusion. He stopped working on Illusory to check Scatterblade after the third additional cube he added, a frown firmly in place. "They're burning through it too fast. This isn't good."

"Well, unless you wanna play therapist, we're going to have start on that frame now. Ratchet is our best shot at keeping them-" alive... "-sane. We'll keep them on transfusions, sedated. Primus knows they need to stop running themselves into the ground."

"What about Silverdust?" The medic grumbled. "I'll talk to Cade when he comes back around...we'll keep them down until then at least."

"I could watch her," Blindside said confidently.

"If we're going to do this, I need you with me - not sparkling sitting." Knockout grumbled. They had been planning this since he laid optics on the trapped sparks, but now faced with actually doing it his confidence was waning.

"Charlie, then," Blindside shrugged, "Pit, Sidestep could do it." He finished connecting the machine to Scatterblade. "When Cade comes in, we start?"

Knockout vented. "Why wait?" He was talking more to himself than to Blindside. "Got a lot of work to do until then." He set himself to it, ignoring his doubts.

The pirate vented and shook his head. "I'll keep one optic on them." He set up next to Knockout, reading through the schematics one last time.

"The only thing that's got me is how to reproduce a protoform. Cause, you know, those usually came off an assembly line." Blindside snarked.

"The humans made an acceptable substitute. It will have to work," Knockout grumbled.


	38. Chapter 38

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Eight~*~

One Year 3 Days

When the humans returned the next day, everything was set and as ready as it could be. They just needed a working frame and some good luck. 'Because we've had so much of that,' Knockout thought grimly. He came back to check on the two 'bots one more time. They were still in recharge and Blindside was monitoring both's vitals. "How's the happy couple?" He asked as he looked over the readouts.

"Out cold, Thank Primus," he said thickly. He resisted looking at his chronometer; it was only going to depress him.

"Think we'll just go ahead and lock them in medical stasis for now."

Blindside vented. "Already started," he said finishing up the sequence for both mech and femme.

"Need to find Cade and get the show started." Knockout vented, already tired and not looking forward to a process that he had no clue how much time it would take to complete. "Probably should let the others all know whats going on too."

The pirate stood and stretched his kinks. "Upstairs we go."

With a nod, Knockout headed for the elevator, already choosing his course of action. "I suppose I should talk to Charlie; you should find Prowl, let him know the general plan. Grab Cade if you see him."

"Sounds good." When they reached the top, the pirate pinged to Prowl.

Knockout asked around until he located the woman, taking his time about doing it. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation one bit. The word started spreading that he was looking for her.

Charlie was off in the corner of the building's lunch room with Rex, hardly able to eat.

"Hey," a young man called as he trotted across the room. "Charlie? Right?" He stopped at their table, looking hopefully at her.

"Who wants to know?" Rex hadn't gotten over the encounter with Tanya and wasn't going to willingly walk into a similar situation.

"Oh...uh...I was just, I mean I heard that...it's just that there are people saying that one of the robots is looking for Charlie and I thought that was her," he looked at Charlie again, "you, I mean, because I don't recognize you, but I guess that doesn't mean anything..."

Rex was a little stunned by the man's rambling.

Charlie got up quickly. "Who was it?" She asked completely skipping correcting him about robots. "What color?" It was a stretch for them to know any of their names since they didn't know the humans of their group.

"Oh...um, I'm not sure. I didn't see which one I just heard other people talking. I think they said it was, um..." he thought hard about the name he had heard. "It's something like...Punch? Um...Blackout?" He looked to her hoping he had remembered the name correctly, or at least close enough.

Charlie gave him a confused look until it clicked. Then she laughed, covered her mouth and cleared her throat. "Knockout." She nodded, "Thank you." She pulled on Rex's arm.

"Yeah! Okay, right. Glad I could help." He waved awkwardly and headed off to do what he should have been doing.

Rex followed Charlie, still a little thrown by the man's approach. "That was weird, " he commented.

"Very. Intern?" She shook her head, clearing her mind of it and hurried to the bay. She still didn't know what to call it, so she stuck with 'the bay'.

When they arrived something seemed off, but she couldn't place it for several seconds.

"Where's Illusory? And Scatterblade?" Rex noticed the missing 'bots with worry. Silverdust was playing with Sidestep, though she didn't seem very into their game - not like she usually was anyway.

Charlie's heart jumped, and she started toward Silverdust. Then she stopped. "Don't scare her," she muttered to herself. She scanned the room for the medic. Knockout was talking to Bumblebee about something that the scout seemed equally excited and nervous about. The redhead hurried across the room.

"Knockout. Where are Lu and Blade?" She asked as she got closer, unable to keep her tone non-accusatory.

"Resting," he said smoothly. Bumblebee waved at the pair before clicking something at Knockout and leaving them to talk.

Charlie took a breath, confused again. "So, if that's not what's wrong, then..?" Her chest felt tight, and she had to stop before she started choking on her words.

"Well," the mech vented softly. How was he going to make this not sound like a disaster waiting to happen? "There is a problem we are currently managing..."

Rex caught the off note in the medic's voice. "But?"

Knockout considered just telling them that they were looking into it and that there was nothing to worry about, but he was confident that it would all come out eventually and then the reaction would likely be far worse. Especially if all this failed. "But...I don't know how to treat it. Their sparks are putting a strain on their systems causing them to burn through energon too fast. The only thing I can do is to manage their consumption." He crouched down, partially to be more on their level, partially because he was drained. "We're going to try and bring back Ratchet, but you are aware of my concerns with placing sparks in new frames. I want to say this is all going to work out and there's nothing to worry about, but that wouldn't be fair."

Charlie felt his words like a blow to her chest. Her mind raced, and she tightened her grip on Rex's hand. Finally, she got her mouth working. "So, we can't help them until we help Ratchet. And you're not sure if it will work?" She started to tremble.

"In short, yes." He shrugged. "It's always more complicated with bonded pairs; my experience with them is...well, minimal."

Charlie shuddered. "So, fix him." Tears filled her eyes, and she had to blink them away. "Please."

"We're going to try. I just thought you should know." He couldn't help but glance at Silverdust. What would happen if this all failed? "We'll get started as soon as Cade is ready."

Charlie followed his gaze. "Okay." She wiped her face. "Okay," she said with more energy and a forced smile. "I'm going to check on Silver."

Rex choked down his own anxiety. What would they do with an orphan alien if everything went wrong? "Let us know if we can help in any way," he offered as he followed Charlie toward the sparkling.

Sidestep growled softly as they approached until he recognized who they were.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?" She sighed and smiled again. "Silver!" She held her arms out to her. The little femme perked up and ran to Charlie, chirping happily as she grabbed onto her.

"Better safe than sorry," the quadruped's deep voice almost purred. He didn't care for any of the humans, but Charlie, Rex, Vance, and Myra had convinced him that maybe they weren't all bad at least.

"Good," Charlie said, giving him a nod of approval. She turned her attention back to the sparkling. It still amazed her how small Silverdust was. Compared to her parents, at least. The little femme was nearly as tall as Charlie. "We're going to play, okay?" She cooed.

"Okay!" She was excited, but her tone just didn't seem as bright as it normally did. "Can we play hide an' seek? I'm good at hiding."

Charlie laughed tiredly. "Yeah, but only in this room, okay?"

Silverdust made a disappointed sound but nodded. "Okay." She looked around quickly, a smile on her face. "Bet you'll never find me!" She declared as she trotted off. "No peeking!" She called over her shoulder.

Rex laughed at the perky sparkling. "Kids," he shook his head.

Charlie smiled, though it was tinged with sadness. "I miss them. My siblings were absolute brats," she laughed, "but I miss them." She turned her back, so she wasn't cheating Silverdust out of her game.

The rev of an engine sounded, and an orange Lincoln pulled into the Bay. Cade appeared as the passenger window rolled down. "We're headed downstairs," he called to Knockout. Blindside honked before reversing back into the hallway and pulling toward the elevator. Knockout followed them down, his posture boasting confidence.

Charlie felt a pang in her chest, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. Rex watched them disappear, hugging Charlie for support. "It'll work out," he said before he realized he was going to say anything at all.

Charlie turned and wrapped her arms around him. "Yeah." Her voice was chipper, but a frown etched deeply on her face. She squeezed him and said, "Now we find Silver."

"Find a young, mischievous, high functioning cyber-intelligence in a tiny frame. Yep, no problem!" He smiled as big as he could as he turned to scan the room. The little femme could be anywhere.

Blindside pulled out of the elevator when he could fit through the doors. Once Cade was out, the pirate stood. "So, you've seen a little bit, putting The Prime back together. Now you see it from scratch."

"Wait, I thought you guys weren't built?" Cade said as he climbed to the berth. "How did you have the plans? Someone had to have given it to you."

"No," Blindside shook his head, "When a good mech goes down, you save every piece, so another good one doesn't join him." He shrugged off how solemn he was sounding. "Millions of years of war will do that to you."

"Survival above all," Knockout added. "Besides, it's the spark that matters, and that isn't built." He started moving a few things around, getting ready to begin.

Cade couldn't wrap his head around it. "But where did you come from? It's not like your bodies grew from anything."

"When are you organics going to stop limiting yourselves?" Blindside chuckled. "You think because you're the only ones in your corner of the galaxy..." he shook his head, cutting off his rant. "We could go into the big, religious 'Primus and Unicron' rant, but I think it just brings more questions than answers. How about we just get to the making miracles happen."

Cade's curiosity spiked, but the excitement of their project pushed it aside. "Tell me what to do."

The process was long, hard and seemed very slow going as they dragged together enough parts between new and recycled parts to build a good enough frame. Between Blindside and Knockout, they brought Joyce's technology up to par and cobbled together something that even Knockout was willing to call decent. Cade worked with them until he couldn't stay awake any longer. Blindside would check on the pair of 'bots still in stasis periodically to change cubes of energon or run a fresh scan.

Knockout worked out every small thing he could think to get his hands on, avoiding the final task. He didn't want to see the spark fail and was procrastinating professionally

The pirate watched him for a few kilks. "We've got to try," he said finally.

"Of course," Knockout said as though he weren't dragging his feet. "Just as soon as it's ready."

"Hey," Blindside waited until the medic looked at him. "It's a long shot. No one will blame you. We're doing our damnedest, here."

Knockout was going to protest but lost his bravo. He scrubbed his face and looked to where the sparks sat waiting for them to try their fate for a new life. "Yeah," he agreed finally. "Let's test fate then, shall we?" He went to the first spark cage and carried it over to the waiting frame. "Don't know if you can hear me, you old glitch...but you'd better give this your all."

Blindside stood opposite the medic ready to assist. "Who else is on the roster?" Blindside said, attempting to ease the medic some.

"If this goes well, Wheeljack's probably the next best option." He focused on the spark he was releasing from the cage to place into the frame. Blindside did his best to stay out the medic's way but close enough to help if he needed it. He had energon on standby, just in case.

Knockout's hands shook as he guided the spark towards its new home. It seemed all would go smoothly until the moment before the pulsing light was secure - it slipped through his fingers. "Slag!"

Blindside caught it. "Is it okay?" he demanded, too afraid to scan it himself.

"Just get it in the case!" He snapped, though it was fear rather than anger lacing his voice.

Blindside set it down gently and closed the case. "Now, you can yell at me!" He barked, his own panic fueling the bellow.

"I've got more important things to do," the medic grumbled as he guided the new systems to interact with the spark.

Blindside shook his head. "Not what I meant. Never mind." He followed the medic's lead.

It wasn't long before the spark started powering the frame and boot protocols took over. "It...worked?" Knockout sounded surprised.

Blindside just stared, optics wide as the readings held. "He's... steady."

Knockout watched carefully as each system came online ensuring that everything went the way it was meant to.

In an explosion of movement, the frame came to life as the mech shouted words that were garbled by the new vocalizer not quite ready to handle the amount of sound it was producing; limbs flew everywhere as he tried to fight off and protect himself from unseen attackers. He fell from the table, flailing on the floor with disorientation and fear driven panic to escape. Knockout was thrown back, the sudden influx of data pouring into the systems he was monitoring stunned him momentarily.

Blindside scrambled back to his feet. "It's alright! Stop! You're safe." He grabbed the mech to cease his movement.

Knockout helped Blindside restrain the flailing mech. "Slagger," he growled with frustration, "settle down before you hurt yourself!"

The mech continued to struggle; his input was unfamiliar and confusing. "What's ... going ... on?" He was finally able to get coherent words through the new vocalizer.

"Relax. You need to calm down, now," Blindside encouraged.

Cade had fallen from his desk and out of his slumber and now stared wide eyed at the whole scene.

"Decepticons?" The mech's vents panted with heat, trying to pull in cool air.

"We're helping you," Knockout relaxed his grip just enough to re-link with the mech so he could guide the new systems into proper function.

"Why?"

"New planet, new rules," Blindside grunted, "What's the last thing you remember. Take your time."

"I..." his vocalizer crackled with the overload of emotion flooding the mech, "Humans...Lockdown...I thought I was deactivated." He looked at Blindside and Knockout for the first time. "I'm a prisoner then?"

Blindside shook his head. "First off, no. It's gonna take you a while to understand this concept but, the factions don't matter anymore. Lockdown and Cemetery Wind were picking us off," Blindside vented slowly. "But to answer that first question," he paused to really figure out how to say it. "...is a little more complicated."

"Complicated...yeah, okay." He was accepting the explanation for now.

Knockout got all the systems in sync with the frame and disconnected to let it finish booting on its own. "Anything hurt more than it should?" He asked as he moved to help the mech back to the table.

"No, strange notifications though. How many new systems were installed?"

Blindside looked to Knockout, clearly wanting to tell Ratchet the truth.

"All of them," Knockout answered in the most factual tone he knew. "All new parts too."

Ratchet collapsed onto the table as Knockout let him go. "Wait," he looked over himself. Seeing nothing that was familiar the whole of it finally hit him. "You did a spark transfer?"

"Not much of a choice." Knockout shrugged.

Blindside nodded. "Lockdown kept them. He didn't snuff out a single one," he titled his head toward the others.

Ratchet stared in horror at all the spark cages. There were so many! He considered his own new frame once more. "Why me?" He sounded exhausted.

Blindside felt a flare of anger. "Why not? We've got Scatterblade and Illusory in medical stasis, and Primus knows what else everyone else is suffering!"

His focus shifted instantly. "Why are they in stasis? What happened?"

"Settle your protocols; you just rejoined the realm of the functioning. Take a breem." Knockout was finishing the last of his scans. "Have some energon; it'll help. You're still registering borderline shock."

"To Pit with me, what happened to Scatterblade and Illusory? Where is Silverdust?" Ratchet's famed temper had not been lost in near death.

"Illusory's glitches got worse. Silver's fine. Charlie's watching her," the pirate affirmed. "We're not sure, but all the stress has fragged with their systems. They're burning through energon faster than we can replenish it."

"You really ready to hit the road engine roaring?" Knockout seemed a little impressed.

"I'm a medic, and there are 'bots in need; yes, I'm ready to get to work."

"Alright," they were hardly in any position to argue, and as long as the mech's spark stayed stable, he wasn't going to complain. He sent all the data he had on the pair.

Blindside moved out of the medic's way and rechecked both of the infusion lines on the pair.

Ratchet wasn't exactly steady on his feet but managed the distance on his own well enough. He looked over the pair; dismay etched in his new features. "What happened?" He touched the mismatched plating, the old scarring, noted the lack of good repair and upkeep and decided he probably didn't want to know. Still, based on what he was reading, he needed to know more. "Serious trauma?"

"Long list, I'm afraid. Humans grabbed 'Blade - it's how he and I met. Don't know what happened before then. Lockdown snatched them; not sure what all happened there, but they weren't good when Blindside here brought them back to us."

"One of the scientists got their claws on the femmes," Blindside took up the explanation. "Thankfully, it was a short visit, but the emotional damage," he shook his head, "this whole group's been through the Pit."

"Whole group?" He didn't look up from what he was doing, but his voice was hopeful.

"Yeah, some of us managed to stick together...or rather regroup. Hound, Mirage, Blurr, Sidestep, Jazz, Prowl, Arcee, just met up with Bulkhead, Crosshairs, Drift, and Bumblebee." Knockout listed the 'bots living with them.

"Bumblebee has the whole story on your Prime," Blindside said, his tone dismissive, "Don't worry he's not dead."

"Not dead," he vented. "Good." He considered the information he had before speaking again. "There will be time for that later. These two are displaying signs of spark shock. When were they separated and for how long?"

"Uh..." Blindside groaned, "The question should be how many times. Uh, three four, I think." Panic started to seep in, but he shoved it back. Focus.

"Long periods with no contact between them?" The medic sounded shocked.

"Yeah," Knockout nodded. "Several times by my count."

Ratchet shook his head in disbelief. "What were their most recent symptoms?"

"Femme was lethargic, apathetic; mech was..." the image of Scatterblade slamming Illusory against the wall replayed in Knockout's processor, "frustrated, depressed, aggressive."

"He kept saying he couldn't feel her," Blindside supplied.

Ratchet's frame sagged, seeming to regain all the weight he had carried in his old frame in an instant. "Too much stress on a new bond. They need to reconnect, immediately."

"Um...and that means...what exactly?" Blindside leaned back from the berth as if repulsed by what he thought it meant.

"It means," Ratchet spoke in his most 'trying to be patient' tone, "that their sparks need to merge. Now."

"Oh-kay!" Blindside covered his audio sensors and turned on his heal. Then he dropped his hands and turned back. "I hate deductive reasoning sometimes." He vented harshly. "So, how do we help?"

"Move her over, roll him onto his side. We need their spark chambers to line up. Hopefully, with a little coaxing, their sparks will take over, and we can leave them to it."

Knockout looked alarmed. "And this is why I never got into spark care," he grumbled as he started to do as Ratchet instructed. Blindside took Illusory's side and did as he was told. He took great care to set the opening sequence for her chassis. Once they were posed as he had described, Ratchet watched the two sparks intently.

"Come on," he whispered as the femme's spark remained complacent. "He's right there! Just reach out..."

Blindside couldn't look away even though he had been disturbed only moments before. "Should we wake them up?"

"Their sparks know what to do," Ratchet assured the others, "it's just a matter of getting them to realize it. Their frames and processors would only complicate things." He waited a moment more. "Get me energon, strongest grade you have available."

Blindside nodded and pulled away from the table to do so. When he returned he set it into the infuser.

After a few more breems passed, Ratchet growled a long stream of curses and grabbed the infusion lines and started tapping them inside of the pair's spark chambers.

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Knockout asked, stepping a little further away.

"They need the jump start."

The result was a huge burst of their sparks, causing them to swell and touch. Immediately Illusory's spark threw out leaders, reaching desperately for its mate, needing something to hold onto. The spark in the mech's frame pushed toward the femme, and his frame trembled.

'Lu,' his presence was weak, but he kept pushing letting her tendrils wrap around him. 'Lu.'

'Blade?' The one word was so full of pain, loss, confusion, and hopelessness it was a wonder she had held together at all. She latched onto him with a desperate need to be whole and safe.

'Don't leave me,' he begged, 'Don't ever leave me again.'

'Ah'm so sorry! So, so sorry! Ah feel so lost, an' Ah don't know what ta do about any of it.'

'Let me help you, please. I'm sorry I hurt you. I couldn't get you to see.' Emotions ran hot, and he just couldn't hold it back any longer. 'It's going to be okay.' He felt so tired and beaten. 'I need you, Lu.'

'Ah need you too, so much,' grief welled up through her, drowning her in sorrow. 'Ah don't want ta hurt you,' she whimpered through the wave.

'Staying away like that, that hurts more than anything. More than the sadness, the fear- I can help you hold it. You have to trust me.'

'Ah trust you,' she pulled in tighter to him, wanting to be as close as possible, 'Ah always trust you.'

'And I you,' he felt his own emotions calming, a peaceful warmth started to grow. 'I love you, Illusory.'

Blindside took a step back, captivated by it all. "How do we know if we helped?" He asked quietly.

"Oh, we'll know in a few kliks I imagine." The tone of Ratchet's voice said it all; they had succeeded. He turned and went back to the table he had been on before, his steps steadier but still not quite reliable. "When everything settles, give them more energon and bring them out of stasis. Tell them to take it easy, keep fueled and rest."

"And you can't do that because..?" Knockout still looked very uncomfortable.

"Because I am going to drop into recharge; let my own systems settle so I can get to work on the rest of you lot without tripping over my own feet."

Blindside shook his head in amazement. He started to laugh. "You did it," he congratulated Knockout, "Holy frag, you did it..." he continued to laugh in disbelief.

Cade had still not moved, unable to comprehend anything he had just witnessed and awed to complete silence. These beings were so much more than he had even begun to imagine.


	39. Chapter 39

~*~ Chapter Thirty-Nine~*~

One Year 4 Days

A short time after Ratchet fell into recharge, a flash of bright light followed by the sound of racing engines and electrical discharge rocked through the room.

"Holy-" Blindside ducked.

Knockout vented, scooped Illusory off the table beside Scatterblade to return her to her own and reset the infusion lines. "Get him set, would you? Sooner we get them up; sooner they can get out of here."

Blindside scrambled to prepare Scatterblade.

Cade finally spoke, the shock of it all broken with the seeming explosion. "What the hell was that?"

"Spark overload," Knockout stated clinically. He finished setting the infusion and stepped away to wait until her systems were running at an acceptable level again. "Happens when a bonded pair merge."

"Bonded. What does that mean? I mean, I saw it, but-"

"Kid- Cade," Blindside corrected himself, "class is over. We need to get these guys better and then recharge ourselves."

"Okay," Cade's shoulders sagged.

Knockout laughed; somehow Cade's disappointment made it all amusing. Either that or he was running low on fuel and needed the recharge. "Don't worry. Ratchet's back, he will happily tell you all the gory details of bonded pairs." He said the term like some might talk about germs or manure.

"I will not be part of that conversation," the pirate said adamantly.

Cade checked his watch and realized it was about four in the morning. He shook his head and climbed the stairs back to the elevator.

Knockout chuckled again and went back to work. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted from him - not that he was going ever to admit that he was happy to look to Ratchet for answers, but he was. It was always nice to have a mentor available.

Blindside worked on the two 'bots a while longer before he was confident enough to wake them up.

"Ready for the fallout?" Knockout joked as he prepared to bring Illusory out of stasis. He hesitated when he looked down at her. "Maybe him first," he suggested.

Blindside nodded. "Already started."

When Scatterblade onlined his optics and he sat up, he swayed.

"Welcome back," Blindside said.

"Back?" Scatterblade shook his head. Then his processor got to speed. "Lu," he looked around for her then stumbled from his berth to hers. Blindside caught the mech and helped him along.

"Take it easy. She'll be online in a klik." Even as Knockout spoke, the femme's optics lit up.

"Lu," Scatterblade sat beside her. "Hey."

She didn't respond at first, and Knockout suddenly thought for a moment that maybe Ratchet was wrong and they hadn't fixed anything. Then she sat up, slowly, and leaned into Scatterblade, grabbing onto him as though he were the only thing keeping her up. Over their bond the apathy and cold void was gone, in its place was a torrent of emotions so high and wild she simply didn't know how to express - or even deal with them. It was like everything she hadn't been feeling was backlashing on her now that the emptiness was gone. Scatterblade took it in, giving her room for her flood. It was relieving to feel her, the emotions were painful and hot, but it warmed him all the same.

'It's okay. I'm here. I'm here.' He wrapped his arms around her.

Blindside watched patiently feeling his own panic over all this subdued action. After a moment he told Scatterblade to refuel and rest. The mech nodded, still hanging onto the femme. Knockout looked them over one more time before going to find recharge for himself. This was a good day. Blindside double checked Ratchet, monitoring the levels before he found a corner to rest.

Scatterblade stayed with Illusory for quite some time and didn't realize the others were gone until they were deep in recharge. He looked about the medbay finally and saw the unfamiliar mech also in recharge. A quick scan made his spark leap. Illusory had been completely absorbed in just having the sensation of Scatterblade in her spark, of her emotions spinning wild and his support that nothing else had mattered until that moment.

"What is it?" Her voice still held the hopeless, empty tone, but her spark clinched with fear of more bad news.

"It's Ratchet. They did it," Scatterblade said amazement in his voice.

"Ratchet's gone," she pulled herself tighter to him, grief coming over her again, mixed with confusion.

"No, look," he said, "scan that mech."

She didn't move but scanned the mech as Scatterblade said. Everything inside her stilled as she scanned him again. "Ratchet?" She called out nervously.

"I think he's in recharge," he said.

"But...is that really him? Is he okay?" She turned, intending to go closer to him so she could see for herself with her own optics.

"I think so," he said, still in awe.

She made half the distance before stopping. She decided she didn't want to know if he wasn't okay and turned back.

"Get some energon and come back to rest," Scatterblade said, holding out his hand to her.

She nodded, found the energon and went back to him. She gave him his share before climbing back onto the table.

He took it in slowly, one arm wrapped around her. "Where's Silver?" he asked, more to himself than anyone listening. Illusory tensed immediately. He sent a message to Hound. ::Have you seen Silver?::

::Hey, Blade! She's recharging with Sidestep. How are you feeling?::

::Better. Tired, but better.:: He smiled and pulled his femme close.

::Good to hear. You two had everyone worried.::

Scatterblade cringed, but let the embarrassment go. ::I think we'll have fewer worries now.::

::That's really good. I'll let everyone know.::

Scatterblade vented relief flooding through him, easing the pain from the emotional tirade. "What exactly happened?" He asked, again speaking his thoughts aloud. "It felt like we... bonded again."

"I don't know..." she tried to remember, but all she could bring up was being afraid, then darkness, then Scatterblade was there, and she couldn't stop the flow of all of the emotions bursting within her, then more nothing until she woke up.

Scatterblade was shocked by her memory gaps. "You don't remember... giving up?" He asked timidly.

"Specifically? No. Just seemed like suddenly there was...nothing and it was easier."

He couldn't keep the pain from his face; he tried to look away. "It was terrifying."

"I am sorry," she said softly. "I should not have let that happen."

"I'm not mad," he reassured her. Then his shoulders fell, "I wasn't mad then. I was just so scared."

She vented, leaned a little more into him, and let her optics go dim again. "I am tired," she said, though she wasn't just talking about physically. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted too, and as much as it helped to have Scatterblade to help her deal with it, she could feel his weariness too.

"Then rest. We'll rest until we can't anymore," he quipped gently and pulled her close to him supporting her head on his arm, close to his side.

"That sounds nice." She relaxed and was in recharge almost right away.

Scatterblade joined her. Blindside grinned at them from his corner; their conversation had pulled him out of recharge. The relief felt better than anything as it washed through his frame and he shifted once more before he drifted off again.

Charlie was ecstatic when Hound told them the news. She felt a glimmer of hope catch in her chest, and she fanned it for all she was worth.

"Things are looking up!" Rex said with a grin. It was good to hear good news again.

Charlie was grinning ear to ear, practically bouncing. "When can we go see them?" She asked Hound.

"I'd give them a bit yet. Maybe this afternoon?" He considered asking Knockout, but he knew the medic had been working overtime and was probably getting some much-needed rest.

Charlie shook her head in agreement. "Right." She looked at Silverdust, and her grin just grew more. Everything was going to be okay.

"Come on," Rex urged, "let's go grab some food. We can go visit afterward."

Charlie nodded and put her hand in his. All of it seemed behind them now. All the loss, the pain, confusion. It was all over. She could smile again and mean it. Rex's spirits lifted along with Charlie's. Her happiness was infectious. They had a good meal, Myra and Vance joining them. Charlie's restraint to not inhale her food was well tested. She kept wanting to wake Silverdust and take her with them, but the little femme had tired herself out, first with their hide and seek game and chasing after Sidestep. The only thing that pulled her away from her thoughts were her three friends. Practically family, now. Rex waited as long as he thought Charlie would hold out before suggesting they head down to visit. She stood and nearly ran to the elevator, yanking Rex along. He laughed at her eagerness. When they arrived, Illusory and Scatterblade were sitting together on one of the tables talking to a third mech. Knockout was on the far side of the lab turned medbay working on something else.

Blindside was monitoring Ratchet. He grinned at them and gave a wave. "Welcome. Blade, Lu, you got visitors."

Scatterblade looked up and smiled. "Charlie."

Illusory looked over at the pair and for the first time in a long time felt happy to see them. They were smiling, and it didn't look put on, that in itself made her feel that maybe things weren't so bad now. She smiled back at them.

Ratchet looked over the two humans, a frown instantly on his face. "What happened to your arm?"

Charlie turned at the voice seeing the new mech. "Oh, it was an accident I had way back." She shrugged it off. "It's been banged up a bit over the past year." Scatterblade was grinning when she turned back to him. "What?" She asked, complete confusion in her voice.

"Banged up? Its been totally destroyed!" He turned to glare in Knockout's direction. "I suppose you've done more of your 'make do' work on that too?"

Knockout just shrugged, clearly not willing to take the senior medic's scorn to spark.

Ratchet harrumphed with annoyance before turning back to Charlie. "Let me see the damage," he grumbled. "By Primus, you lot fell apart without me."

"W-what?" Charlie's eyes widened, and she took a step back.

Scatterblade chuckled some. "It's Ratchet."

Charlie looked back to the medic. Tears stung her eyes. "I- you," she began laughing, and she ran to the mech, wrapping her arms around his leg.

Ratchet seemed to remember that everyone had had a hard time and that their damage wasn't the only thing needing tending to. He knelt down and brushed Charlie's back gently. "Yes, I know. It's good to see you too."

"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked looking up at him.

The medic smiled. "A lot better than the rest of you, I'm sure."

The redhead raised her right arm uselessly. "That's good to hear."

"Alright, let's see what needs to be done." Ratchet started examining the wreck of her arm, and his frown came back. He didn't like what he saw - or more aptly, didn't like what he could guess happened to cause what he saw. "We may just have to replace the whole thing," he mumbled, almost to himself as he worked a few pieces inside the arm to move how they were supposed to.

Charlie flinched. "It's that bad?" Her shoulders fell. "Okay." She lifted her chin and nodded.

He sat back and looked around at the scrap that had been salvaged and organized according to their potential uses. "I will let you know when I'm ready. I will do what I can without you first so that you won't be tied up so long."

"You're supposed to be taking it easy," Knockout reminded the mech from his place safely across the room.

"I'll take it easy when I'm..." he stopped, catching himself, "when I'm done."

"Yeah," Charlie's smile saddened, "just give me a call." She let go and went back to Illusory, Scatterblade, and Rex.

Rex had been shocked to realize the new mech was Ratchet. He was having a hard time believing that they had actually succeeded in bringing the medic back.

Blindside helped the medics as much as he could. Every once in a while he caught himself staring at the spark cases. He knew a few of those lives were Decepticon and hatred seeped in.

Knockout picked up on Blindside's distractions and wondered for a time what - or who - was so interesting. ::Someone you know?:: He asked over private comm, not wanting to disturb anyone.

::No,:: he said shortly. He pulled his gaze away once more, checking the inventory.

::What's in your gears?:: He questioned, curiosity piqued.

::Nothing,:: Blindside shrugged.

::Uh-huh,:: Knockout said doubtfully. He decided to leave it as it was for now and went to nag Ratchet some more. Somehow he rather enjoyed annoying the mech.

Blindside turned his back on the sparks and got busy with beginning the schematics for a larger energon converter.

Charlie must have asked the pair a dozen times if they were feeling better or if they needed anything. Scatterblade couldn't keep from laughing.

"Yes, Chuck, we're good. Relax." The woman's face tinted red.

Illusory mostly just smiled, only answering when she had to to keep them from thinking she wasn't paying attention. She was still struggling with the recently released emotions writhing inside, but there was a glimmer of hope and a shadow of joy that helped her believe it was worth it. Scatterblade's presence and encouragement helped even more. She wasn't sure yet that she would ever be okay again, but she felt that she could finally be better. They talked for a while until Charlie realized Silverdust might want to see her parents. She volunteered to bring her down, but Scatterblade had already commed Sidestep to check on her.

::She seems in better spirits now that you're both back online. I will escort her down if you like.::

::Thank you for taking care of her,:: Scatterblade said, embarrassed from before, the scene he'd made trying to reach Illusory.

::I swore to protect her, this is simply one of many perks of my oath.::

::We're lucky to have you.:: he said gratefully.

::Some would disagree, but I am honored to be able to help.::

Scatterblade let the comfort spread to Illusory, reassuring her of their sparkling's safety. She vented softly, taking in the feeling and let it push against the tidal wave of other emotions, soothing the wild torrent further. When Sidestep arrived with Silverdust on his back, the sparkling was laughing hysterically. Apparently, the novelty of riding the quadruped seemed odd to her, and she liked it. Scatterblade tried hard not to laugh, though he couldn't stop the smile. He waved to the little femme. She chirped happily, standing on Sidestep's back and launching herself at Scatterblade. Illusory tensed, horror tearing through her that her sparkling was going to fall and be hurt. Scatterblade caught her easily and tossed her in the air again, before pulling her close. Illusory vented in relief, though her frame remained tense.

"Where were you? Charlie and Rex played hide and seek with me; I'm really good at hiding! And Sidestep, and I wrestled. I let him win sometimes so he wouldn't be sad."

Scatterblade did laugh this time around, her cheerfulness so contagious. "We were having a check up. Just making sure everything is okay." He explained to her.

"Oh." She looked around at the others in the room, paused, then squirmed to be let down.

Scatterblade shook his head with half a laugh and set her free. She took a few careful step toward Ratchet, then as the mech turned to do something she ran to him and latched onto his leg with a gleeful squeal. Ratchet froze at the sound, startled and afraid he had stepped on something, but as he looked down a smile found its way to his lips and spread over his entire frame.

"Hello, little one."

"Hi! Where have you been? You didn't come see us...you promised. Why'd you change? I like it."

Guilt gripped Ratchet's spark at Silverdust's reminder that the last time he had seen her, he had promised to come back in a few orns. "I wanted to," he started, "but you know how busy I get sometimes."

She nodded, accepting the simple explication without question. "You an' 'Jack," she agreed.

Everyone who knew glanced to the rest of the sparks, hoping this miracle could keep up.

Ratchet just hummed his agreement. "Well, I suppose you're due for a check up anyway, aren't you?"

She nodded eagerly and held her hands up for him to pick her up. Careful and with the memory of a lot of practice, Ratchet swept up the sparkling, his current project put aside for the moment.

Illusory watched, a sense of normalcy in the scene. "Glad he is back," she said quietly.

"Me too." Scatterblade wrapped an arm around her. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his optics. Blindside was moving a few pieces of machinery and other scraps toward a corner of the lab. He sent a message to him. ::How you doing?::

The pirate visibly flinched almost dropping what he was carrying. He steadied his load and turned to glare at his friend, exasperated. Scatterblade grinned and gave him a wave.

Blindside turned back to his chore. ::Fine. Don't do that again.::

::Someone's grouchy.::

::Just don't.:: Blindside pushed the conversation away, disconnected altogether. Scatterblade watched him curiously as he continued to work.

Ratchet finished with Silverdust, having needed minor work here and there, and handed her back to her creators with the warning to keep out of mischief. She just laughed.

"Thank you, Ratchet." Illusory took the small femme in her arms and held her close for a moment, enjoying that she could feel her near her spark again.

Silverdust accepted the treatment with a calmness she seemed to always have at the perfect moment and trilled comfortingly to her femme creator. Ratchet watched her reaction with minor concern, but more sorrow.

Charlie watched it all happily before tugging on Rex's arm. "Let's head up stairs."

"Sure." Seeing Ratchet back on his feet - though in an unfamiliar frame - had been good. Seeing Scatterblade and Illusory a little more normal had been better, and with the little family all together and okay made him feel warm and happy. He followed Charlie toward the elevator, waving as he went. Charlie was absolutely thrilled by the prospect of telling everyone; well, everyone that needed to know, that Ratchet was back and the family was well.

Hound spotted the pair as they got off the elevator and came over with a smile. "Hey, guys. Saw Blade and Lu? How are they?"

"They're doing much better," Charlie beamed. "Hey, our ears only, but Ratchet's back," she whispered happily, fresh tears stinging her eyes.

He was taken by surprise by the news. "They did it? Primus, that's good news!"

"Just be careful who you tell," she said.

"Of course," he nodded with agreement. "Who knows? Does Prowl know yet?"

"Scatterblade just told us. Call him." She nodded encouragingly.

"I will!" He promised, too eager to share the good news. ::Prowl, good news; Knockout, Blindside, and Cade did it! Ratchet's back!::

::That's...good.:: Prowl almost sounded surprised. He had figured the probability of successful spark reintegration to be slightly lower than 50/50 in favor of failure. However, now with one successful introduction and Ratchet's expertise, the chances improved dramatically. ::Ratchet is adjusting well?::

::I don't know. Just got the news from Charlie. I am going to go see him.::

::Please send a report on his status.::

::Of course.:: Hound knew Prowl's request for a status report was as good as saying he was happy the mech was back. "I'm going to go down and say hi. Prowl knows now. He'll probably let the others know too."

"Good!" The woman rocked on her heels happily. She turned to Rex. "You know what? You still owe me a swing. Let's go build one."

He laughed, then nodded. "Okay. Where do you want it?"

"One of the rafters in the Bay should be good," she smiled.

He looked around before spotting one he thought suitable. "Alright, let's get to it." There was a short hunt for rope - ending with some strong cable, then the search for the seat. Rex was determined to make it as good as he could. Charlie went rifling through piles and supply closets. She was going through a second closet when she got a tap on her shoulder. "Oh, Rex, did you find a seat?" She spun around and came face to face with Tanya.

"Seat for what?" She asked, ever present resting bitch face with a side of raised eye brow in place.

"Uh. Nothing. I'm going over here," she slipped past the woman. "I'm doing just fine without your questions. So, you can just shove it."

Tanya gave her the excuse me look. "Ma'am."

Charlie shook her head. "I'm finally happy, and it's been one hell of a year. So, please, just leave me alone."

Tanya took a step back. "I know you're stressed, I know you've had a hell of a year, but I just want to remind you, I'm trying to help."

"You can help by leaving me alone. And my friends. Can you do that? Or are you under strict control?" Charlie shook her head. "These people just want to live. And they can't live under your thumb."

"They shouldn't be here, to begin with," Tanya said plainly.

"But they're here all the same," Charlie said.

"I don't want to have to arrest you for obstruction," the agent looked just as ready to continue this as Charlie was to end it.

Rex had searched through a lot of scraps to find a perfect seat. It had once been an office chair, but now it would be a swing. He felt rather pleased with himself for it and set out to find Charlie. Rex saw her talking to someone, at first he didn't know who but as soon as he recognized Tanya a dark expression took over. He hurried to Charlie and glared at the other woman. "I thought we made it clear; we are done with you."

"We're done," Charlie said.

Tanya grabbed her arm. "No, we're not."

Rex moved without thinking, his training taking over as he grabbed Tanya's hand and wrenched it off Charlie, twisting it enough to be just shy of breaking her wrist. "Don't touch her," he growled.

Tanya threw the soldier off of her. "You can't run from me."

"We aren't running," he stated. "We are done running from people who hunt us. We are done answering for crimes we have not committed, and we are done with being used against those beings that have risked - even given - their lives to protect us! If you want your questions answered, ask someone else. Leave Charlie alone."

Tanya glared at him. "You're making a mistake. I'm only trying to help you."

"This doesn't look like help," he challenged.

Tanya shook her head and walked away, tired.

Charlie took a deep breath. "That was cheery."

Rex watched the woman walk away, part of him wanted to hurt her, but another part - the part he listened to - told him that it wouldn't be worth the temporary satisfaction. "Yeah," he sighed. "You okay?" He turned back to Charlie, looking her over quickly.

"I'm fine," she smiled, "I'll be okay."

"Okay." He hugged her close before moving to guide her back to the Bay. "Found a seat," he tried to put his previous good mood back in place. Why did someone always have to come along and ruin his good mood?

Charlie pulled herself back together and followed Rex. Their trip back to where Rex had picked for the swing was rather uneventful. The cable and chair piece sat waiting to be converted into a swing for Charlie's pleasure.

"Thank you," Charlie stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"Anything for you," he hummed.

It took a few minutes to situate the seat to the cord and then another few minutes for Bulkhead to tie it the rafters. More like, weld it but the swing hung securely. The wrecker stuck around to see what had the human so excited. Charlie settled into the swing, her feet dangling above the floor. Rex pulled the swing back then pushed forward and let go. He stood back to watch. Charlie closed her eyes as she flew. She felt free in the air, letting go of stress and just living in the moment. Bulkhead chuckled at her amusement and when she came toward him, gave her another push. She gave a surprised yelp and laughed as she swung higher. The mech shook his head still smiling as he turned and went back to what he was doing. Rex couldn't help but smile. This, he had to think, was the way Charlie was meant to be. Not a victim, dragged through all the crap that they had been through over the last year. He marveled that she could still find that person inside her that could enjoy such a simple thing so completely and he loved her even more for that. He had always heard that it was the little things in life that were special, but now he was sure he believed it. Charlie kept the momentum going, enjoying vertigo in a way she hadn't been able to in a long time. At the forward swing, she held the rope and leaned back, the blood rushing to her head. The movement of sitting back up started a spin, and she laughed anew.

"Careful!" Rex warned with a warm tone. He made sure he was out of the way of the spinning swing ready to grab it if he needed to.

Charlie splayed her legs to slow the turn, and she rode it out until it was spinning in a lazy circle. "No matter how old I am, I will always enjoy that."

Rex grabbed one of her legs and slid up to her. "Happy?" He asked softly.

"Yeah," she said as she caught her breath. "Things are going to work out," she smiled brightly, though her eyes were hesitant.

"They will," he agreed, though it sounded more of a challenge to the world to try and let things not work out. "There will be some bumps yet, but we're strong enough to get through it. All of us."

Charlie wrapped her good arm around his shoulder and hung onto the cable. "Please don't say it, just yet. I'm still high on this feeling." She sighed, contentedly.

"Then stay," he moved closer, kissing her gently. "I like seeing you this way."

Charlie took the embrace, melting into him. "Your turn," she kissed his nose and climbed off the swing.

He didn't seem so sure about the idea but hopped into the seat anyway. Charlie grabbed the seat and pulled back as far as she could then ran, and heaved the swing over her head.

Rex held on, letting the cable swing. The sensation of flying through the air was definitely not what he remembered as a kid. Charlie watched, careful to keep out of his leg's reach. Once it had slowed enough, he jumped off, stumbling a bit until he got his balance again.

Charlie helped steady him, slinging his arm around her shoulder. "Now. What now?" She asked playfully.

He pulled her close in a sideways hug, contentment brimming. "Hmm, I don't know." He kind of felt odd and out of place without a laundry list of chores around the camp to do. They had kept busy for so long just surviving that free time felt strange. "I think we need to watch a movie or two." Simple pleasures.

Charlie grinned into his shoulder as she nuzzled on his arm. "Good plan."

Rex happily led her away discussing options and what they wanted to see.


	40. Chapter 40

~*~ Chapter Forty~*~

One Year 4 Days (Still)

It wasn't much longer before Scatterblade asked Ratchet if they were clear to leave. The medic looked the pair over with uncertainty. Medically he didn't want to let them out of his sight until he could do Illusory's repairs, but given her recent past temperament and unpredictability along with her current state which still seemed uncertain, he knew that the chances of triggering something were still too high. "Don't go far," he said as he turned back to Charlie's arm.

Scatterblade agreed; though he was eager to leave, he was more than willing to wait until they were cleared. He didn't want anything else to go wrong without someone close by. Besides that, he really needed the recharge. Illusory was relieved to be out from under medical watch. Having optics on her all the time was making her feel broken...well, she knew she was broken, but she didn't like others treating her that way. Scatterblade kept glancing to Blindside, and concern started to pick at him. He tried to just focus on Illusory, continuing to calm the flood that washed over them. Blindside could take care of himself. He was capable and tended to have his head on straight. Still, he seemed distracted, despite being elbow deep in his project.

"You are worried," Illusory stated softly as they got into the elevator. His emotions felt so different from her own, easier for her to understand.

Scatterblade smiled at her. "It's nothing. I can't do much right now anyway."

"Okay." She leaned on him, just wanting the closeness. "I trust you."

He put his arm around her and reached for her over their bond as they headed up to the bay where they could hopefully get some rest.

 _Cause, after all, this city never sleeps at night. It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger than that. I'll admit I'm just the same as I was. Why can't you understand? I'm never changing who I am._

Blindside didn't sing. Never tried, never planned to, but he couldn't keep from mouthing the words. They were a good distraction, keeping his focus on the larger refiner and off the disembodied sparks. He rather liked this group of humans. He didn't understand what they called themselves, but he liked the sound.

Knockout watched the mech work for a breem or two before making his presence known. He picked up on something with him but given so many things that had happened - that were still happening - and that could easily happen in the near future, he supposed anyone who didn't seem a little off might be the ones he should worry about instead. "I'm going to start construction on the next frame," he stated, leaving it an open invitation. "Ratchet had some pointers that will make this go faster. Should be able to get all of those sparks into a frame in a few orns."

The music in his audios cut abruptly. Blindside had to stop himself from protesting. "Okay," he grunted and continued to fit a few pieces together.

Knockout shrugged and turned to leave. It wasn't his problem if the mech had an issue he didn't want to share...except if there was an issue he should know about before it got into a frame. "You know, there are several sparks I don't know. If you have anything on them – or if anyone has anything on them - it would be better to know before we get them back on their feet." He said it as if he were just sharing news, a suggestion maybe, but not indicating he suspected anything.

The pirate paused again and vented deeply. He put down the pieces in his hands and stood. "There's a femme. She doesn't need a frame." He said shortly, a scowl on his face.

Knockout turned back around, curious now. "Is it personal or has she done something?"

"She's insane," he said bluntly. "Apprenticed to Shockwave, so we sure as hell don't need her around."

Shocked by the answer Knockout stepped back, as though prepared to run from the frameless femme. "Why didn't you say so? Show me which one!"

Blindside scrutinized him but walked to the sparks. He picked up the spark. His optics softened for an instant but it was gone as he spoke. "She was a friend once." He shook his head as he looked at it.

Knockout scowled at the cage; he couldn't hide the disgust he felt for the 'bot that had apprenticed under Shockwave. "I'll...take care of it." He took the cage carefully, as though it might break and release a horrible storm upon them. "Anyone else?"

"That's the only one I recognized," Blindside said trying not to watch him take the cage away.

"Good." Knockout thought maybe he should show some form of compassion, but he was a Decepticon and a medic...compassion for useless or dangerous sparks was hard to come by. Still, Blindside said she was a friend. "She'll be at peace," he tried to offer even as he sought the best way to dispose of the unwanted spark.

Blindside scoffed. "Limbo is exactly what she deserves."

"Limbo...of course." He headed out of the medbay and searched for a place to store the spark until he knew what to do with it.

Blindside shook off the anger and turned back to the refiner.

After stowing the spark away from the others where he thought it would be safe for now, Knockout returned to begin working on the next frame.

Blindside vented. "I'll be over here until I cool off. Call when you need me." He offered.

Knockout waived his acknowledgment and continued to work. It wasn't until he got to the more strenuous detail work of wires and fine gears that he called Blindside over. The pirate pushed himself back to his feet, his mind sufficiently distracted by more music. He joined Knockout at the berth. They worked mostly in silence, piecing together the manufactured parts with the recycled materials to create something worthy of holding the inventor's spark. Ratchet had insisted that the thickest plating they could get should be used, making the frame heavy despite the average size. It made moving it complicated, but given Wheeljack's track record, Knockout was sure they were saving themselves a lot of work in the future. Blindside was able to help with the lifting, easing the medic's burden some.

"I think that's it," Knockout vented. He was exhausted, but he wanted to get as many sparks back into frames as quickly as they could - who knew when they might lose the opportunity. "Let's get the spark."

Blindside nodded and hurried to where the spark cages were, picked up the spark they had deemed next in line and brought it back to the frame.

"Okay, let's not have a repeat of last time," he vented to steady his hands. "Ready?"

Blindside held the cage carefully and nodded. "We should probably get Ratchet over here. You're about to get tackled again."

"Hmm," he had been trying to get Ratchet to take a break since Charlie had left the medbay but had only succeeded in garnering several new words he hadn't known and very descriptive suggestions as to what he could do with himself. "Maybe," he agreed. After all, no one could predict how Wheeljack would react.

Blindside couldn't care less about the grouchy medic's threats. ::So, in your expert opinion, how does Wheeljack handle two Decepticons above him right after coming online?:: He asked dryly.

::Better than most. I assume that means you're ready to put his spark in a frame?::

::Literally lowering as we speak.::

::On my way,:: he grumbled.

"We've got the green light. Not that we were waiting for permission, just...you know what I mean." Blindside vented tiredly.

Knockout just vented heavily; whether with relief or annoyance, it was hard to tell.

Ratchet appeared shortly, not even pausing long enough to really look things over before he tapped into the frame, taking over monitoring the start up systems from Knockout, habit taking control and feeling far more comfortable with the task than standing aside. Knockout looked annoyed by his actions, but inside was a little relieved. When Ratchet's spark had connected with the new processor, he had seen and felt the other mech's termination, and that was definitely something he never wanted to feel again. Blindside stood ready, still holding the spark cage, easing it over its new casing. Knockout put his whole focus on the spark and moving it from cage to casing without losing it. His hands shook as he pulled the spark from the cage. Blindside placed the cage on an adjacent table. He then supported Knockout's hands, not holding them but cradling, leaving them as bumpers to ensure the spark didn't fall. The support was welcomed as the spark leaped and jumped unpredictably until it was close enough to the casing to reach out and grab on pulling itself into the frame. Knockout released the spark and locked the case once it was within, stepping back quickly. Blindside pulled himself back, hands retreating from the mech's reach. Ratchet stayed steady even as the new frame jerked to life, an audio scrambling wail escaping the mech as the frame arched against the table in remembered agony. Blindside immediately checked the integrity of the energon lines from the infuser to Wheeljack and other necessary scans.

"It's okay, 'Jack," Ratchet spoke with a firm, confident tone. "It'll be over in a moment, just relax."

Knockout was ready to jump if anything went wrong, watching both the newly onlined mech and Ratchet closely. He was relieved when Wheeljack seemed to settle and look around.

"Not th' Well..." his voice cracked horribly, but his positive tone still clung.

"Not this orn," Ratchet stated as though this might be a common occurrence. "Take it easy while the scans run. You probably feel a little off, that's okay."

"New frame," the inventor stated with certainty.

"Yes, let me know if there are any warnings."

"Ratchet?" He squinted as he looked over the mech next to him. "You too? Musta been a big explosion...sorry."

Ratchet shook his head. "No, 'Jack, this wasn't your fault."

Blindside didn't spare the old friends much mind, too focused on the vitals to look at the mech's emotional well being. There was silence for a while; Ratchet focused on the programming as it sorted out with the new spark powering them.

"Hey, 'Ratch? My scanners...they workin' right?"

Ratchet looked them over quickly. "Yes, why?"

"There's 'Cons here?"

"Yes. Blindside and Knockout." He still didn't seem to realize why Wheeljack seemed a little disturbed; though to the inventor's credit, he handled himself quite well.

"Okay," he accepted the answer, but it was evident he still didn't understand.

Knockout rolled his optics. Wouldn't it figure that the non-medical issue flew right over Ratchet's head? "No, you aren't a prisoner. No, we are not prisoners. Yes, its all one big mash up of weird."

"Oh!" Now he sounded as though everything made perfect sense. "Alright then. Thanks fer helpin' me."

"You and a dozen others like ya," Blindside vented. "We still have a long way to go."

"Then guess Ah better get ta work!" He started to get up, but Ratchet was already holding him down.

"You can wait until your fully synced, fueled and charged."

"That's great advice, Ratchet!" Knockout mocked.

Blindside rolled his optics. "Just chill. We've got you on energon right now, just rest. It's our turn, too."

"Oh! Right." Wheeljack nodded. "Didn't think about that, ya must be beat."

"That's probably the understatement of the vorn," Knockout teased.

"I will finish up here," Ratchet stated as a dismissal.

"Yes, because I am going to let that happen. I don't think so. You are technically still my patient, and you need to rest. Go."

"We're almost done, Ratchet," the pirate nodded to the medic's berth.

It seemed as though he would protest, but after a quick internal check, he realized he didn't have much of a choice. "Fine," he huffed. "Won't be far 'Jack." It never was easy for the old medic to hand over control - but sometimes even he had to concede.

Knockout was pleased with himself. He had expected more of a fight about it all, but clearly, Ratchet did understand a little, if not entirely. "Alright," he picked up where Ratchet had left off. "Feel free to go into recharge Wheeljack, your systems check."

"Thanks," the mech agreed, a grin on his face that never seemed to leave. He did slip into recharge rather quickly.

Blindside once again checked energon levels for 'both Autobots. When he was satisfied, he leaned against the wall, offlining his optics. It was only for a klik or two before he pushed away and walked back to the new refiner.

"You should recharge," Knockout said as he finished with his tasks.

"I'm so close to getting this refiner done," he lied. He didn't want to recharge. The music could only fend off his anger so much.

"Really?" He sounded doubtful. "Suit yourself; I am going to get a few breems before starting on the next frame."

Blindside offlined his optics again, not wanting to start something so extensive just yet. He shook his head and retreated to his corner, music playing anew. He wasn't able to recharge; he simply watched the room with lazy optics. He didn't much care for music back home before war and silence became his life's soundtrack. Now, with some safety and a prospect at a home, it seemed a little easier to give in to the melodies and words.

Knockout had been in deep recharge for barely three breems before Ratchet was up again, heading back to the arm he was working on for Charlie. He checked on Wheeljack several times in a short period as if assuring himself that his friend was really there and okay. He finally held his work up for inspection, he didn't look as pleased with it as he might have been, but with a slight nod he set it down and leaned against the table, looking over to the pirate, quietly observing.

 _Kinda thought it was a mystery and then I thought I wasn't meant to be. You set yourself fantastically, "Congratulations you are all alone." Your time will come if you wait for it, if you wait for it. It's hard, believe me... I've tried. But I keep coming up short..._

Blindside's mouth moved with the words again, letting the music take the foreground in his processor.

"Finding Earth to your appeal?" Ratchet commented once it seemed the song was done.

Blindside flinched and sat up from his resting. He glared halfheartedly at the medic before standing. "Why are you up?" He asked, rolling a kink in his shoulder.

"Because I'm old and stubborn. Why are you?"

"I'm just stubborn." He offered.

"Fair," he agreed, shifting a little; this frame still felt odd to him without all the old aches and catches of the one he had always known. "So what's your story?"

"Not much of a storyteller," he shrugged, picking up a particularly difficult piece he was determined to shape properly.

"Okay then, basics," Ratchet pressed.

Blindside rolled his optics. 'You wanted distractions, right?' He told himself. "I knew Scatter for a long time. Megatron started his little..." he vented, as if remembering a chore he'd rather not take part in, "...talks. I worked construction. It sounded really good. I tried to get Scatter to listen, but he didn't like the tone. I didn't know what he meant. Not until I regretted it." Blindside put the piece down. "He joined up with Prime after the first terrorist attacks. I was still so sure Megatron had the right idea. Just shook everyone away. Then Flotilla happened." He shook his head, optics still on the table, the complicated refiner part the only thing he looked at. "I got out. Wasn't easy, but I managed it. I met up with a bunch of Nails that didn't want to choose sides but also didn't want to just get obliterated, and we snagged a ship and took off." He grinned a little, pushing off the table. "Did that for a while, until Lockdown got a hold of a bounty for deserters. And that's where I met back up with Scatter and Illusory." He shrugged to end his story.

"Construction? What got you from that to doing field repairs?"

He shrugged again. "I'm a good study. You have to learn what you can to survive."

"Too true," he agreed with a sad acceptance. "Your work is pretty good for a mech without the medical programs and upgrades. They tell me you're the one who installed the auxiliary drive in Illusory. Probably saved her processor from a lot of serious damage."

Blindside nodded. "Like I said, picked up some stuff." He didn't offer any explanation other than that.

"Right." Ratchet looked over at Wheeljack again. "Still, good work." He vented and pushed off the table. He looked over what Blindside was doing.

"It's almost done. I just-" Blindside vented, "I think I've been staring at this too long."

"Take a drive," Ratchet suggested. "Get some space and fresh air."

Blindside grunted, actually looking interested. "I may do that. You really should rest, you know. L.D. did a number on ya," he said quietly.

The medic's plating pulled tight against him for a moment before he forced himself to relax. "Yeah," he agreed.

"At least it's over now," Blindside shrugged, before moving toward the door. Then he paused and turned back. "Were you...were you aware at all?"

"No," he answered quickly. "No. Enjoy your drive."

Blindside shook his head. He grimaced deeply, ashamed that he had let his curiosity out at such a painful moment. "Sorry. Bye." He hurried to the exit. He took the elevator to the surface, transforming en-route, then pulled out of the building as fast as he dared. He hadn't been able to just drive since...since before. He pulled himself back to the present and cranked up the music in his cab. When he reached the highway, he drove ten over the speed limit then hopped off onto a dirt road. Tearing across the terrain felt wonderful. He followed the dirt road as it twisted and turned through the trees. It felt a lot like the forest they'd hid in not that long ago. The path opened up a ways, and trees thinned out. A meadow of dirt, mud, and brush spanned both sides of the road. It seemed odd for a path to cut straight through it. He paid it no mind as he adjusted for off-roading and tore out into the space, spinning his tires as he raced along the edge of the clearing, jumping over the road and roaring across the other end.

The familiar sound of rapid gunfire broke the peace of the clearing, followed quickly by the sound of an energon weapon discharge. Blindside transformed and scrambled for the treeline. He threw up scanners, his optics searching for the brawl. Two sparks pinged on his scanners...no, now it was only one.

A mech's voice boomed over all the noise as he cursed in Cybertronian at the natives, swearing their deactivations would be painful.

"Oh, frag," Blindside hissed and pushed deeper into the trees. The energon weapon discharge shot out a few more times before there was the clear grinding of metal tearing followed by the grinding of ceased gears.

"Slag!" The mech shouted, heavy steps pounding as he turned to retreat.

Blindside couldn't get out of the mech's way fast enough. He shot from his hiding spot, feet kicking up debris as he dodged trees, aimed to get as much distance as he could between the mech, the attackers and himself.

Startled by the movement, the mech stumbled, crashing to the ground on one knee. He yelled with frustration and anger. The human team hunting him were quick to take advantage of the moment and laid heavy fire, intending to keep him down until they could take him out. He managed a few stumbling steps before he went down again. Desperate for a klik of time to save himself, the mech kicked up a wave of dirt, stone and no small amount of plant life that sent the humans retreating a few feet. Scrambling he got ungracefully to his feet, then initiated his transformation sequence and jumped into the air. His engines heaved horribly, grinding and smoking with damage, but he pushed them anyway knowing if he didn't he was done. His SAAB Viggen alt mode was mutilated, hardly airworthy and leaking, but the mech pushed every scrap of power that he could.

::Mech, I don't know who you are but if you don't want to get slagged...well, good luck with that.:: He sounded more desperate and angry than really wishing harm on the unknown.

Blindside didn't respond. He simply pulled out a frag grenade and chucked it toward the human soldiers. There was a lot of yelling on the humans' part as they scrambled from the shrapnel. The airborne mech's engine made a sharp, squealing sound and the mech fell from the sky in a ball of smoke and fire. Blindside ran for cover, splitting off from the soldiers and burning mech. He slammed his shoulder into a tree as he tried to spare a backward glance. He spun but got his feet back under him.

There was a dull boom as the flier met the ground. Then there was the sound of several engines as the human team prepared to pursue. They had to get around the deep gouges in the ground from the frag grenade and where the mech had turned up the dirt.

"Shit, shit, shit," Blindside cursed. He was still a ways from the road, or anything level enough to drive, so he pushed on. The smell of burning wood and brush wafted on the wind. Blindside stopped, he looked back and, for a moment, felt pulled in both directions. A flier being gunned down was one thing. He would have done the same a million years ago, but with the planet on an extermination crusade, it burned. He cursed again and fixed his scanners on the downed mech. The fire was roaring, spilled energon and oils fueling it into the dry brush.

The mech had dragged himself away from the crash but not far enough. "Slagging...creatures!" He growled in Cybertronian, using his anger to keep moving. "Slag them all to the Pit!"

"Shut up and move," Blindside ordered, pulling the mech's arm over his shoulder.

He shouted with pain as the movement tore at gears and plating, but he did not fight against him. "Thought I told you to get out of here!"

"I don't know you from Primus. Why would I listen to you?" Blindside scoffed, grunting with the weight as he picked up his pace.

"Maybe because there are ugly little organic creatures shooting to kill? Slagging bits of insignificant..." he growled, unable to think of any more fitting words for his anger.

"Just move," Blindside hissed. Getting over the terrain was painful. The flyer was so much bigger than Blindside making the trek more challenging. So far the fire had given them some time, but soon he would have to drop the mech and fire back. The mech was obviously doing his best to keep moving. He didn't want to be gunned down by these things any more than Blindside, but as they pushed on, he slowed down, leaning more and more on the other mech.

The pirate grunted, growled in frustration and set the mech down. "Weapons functional?" He demanded, pulling his own. It looked a lot like a rifle or shotgun. He honed in on the soldiers and opened fire.

"No," he grunted, "something's jammed." He was fighting with the mechanisms, trying to get it working again.

Blindside pulled free a few more grenades. "I've got six left. Don't throw em if you can't."

He activated one and lobbed it hard toward the humans. It landed on one of the trucks, sending shrapnel in every direction. Blindside nodded with surprised approval. Then he fired on the men as they ran.

The humans scrambled, shouting orders to take down the aliens. Someone was shouting for 'the big gun,' but judging by the actions of the other soldiers, there were complications.

The mech tossed another grenade, this one didn't go as far as the first, but landed among the soldiers.

"Take out their vehicles," Blindside said, aiming for another truck.

"I'll slag them all," he growled as he threw a third grenade.

Blindside shot again, blowing the truck sky-high. There were only a few men left, and as the situation became apparent to the remaining humans, they called a retreat and rushed to the last vehicle.

"Like slag, you'll get away!" The mech yelled as he threw another grenade.

Blindside advanced, gun aimed at the vehicle. His shots had mostly hit, his accuracy more off than he would like. Even as he began closing the distance to the truck, he only grazed the vehicle. He stopped, steadied the shot and fired again. The truck exploded violently. The flier's engine rumbled with pleasure as he watched the last of the little creatures destroyed.

Blindside vented heavily and leaned against a tree. "Finally." He groaned as he stood and holstered his weapons.

"Stupid insects," the mech growled. He tried to get back to his feet, but his legs would not support him.

"Don't, er - don't move," Blindside maneuvered past debris and upturned dirt. "I'll look you over."

He looked suspiciously at the other mech. "Why?"

"You wanna lose your leg?"

"No, of course not."

"So don't move," Blindside stressed. Finally, he reached the flier and looked over the damage.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked, a growl in his voice as he tried to ignore the discomfort of his damage.

"I can just leave." Blindside cleared away the debris. "Now, shut up."

The mech vented, leaning back on one arm so he could watch the stranger.

The damage was typical to what he had already had to help the others with. Torn wires, broken lines; those bullets didn't penetrate, but they did screw up the finer workings. He was lucky they had never pulled out the "big gun," or there wouldn't be anything to fix. Blindside couldn't reconnect most of it until they got back to KSI. He leaned back with an annoyed vent. Why didn't he call for backup? Well, he never had it before. You could only trust fellow pirates so much, and old habits sat hard.

The mech shifted uncomfortably. "So? Now what?"

"Well, I'll do what I can right now," he began putting the leg back together. "What's your name?"

"Ghoststorm."

"Blindside." He replied.

"Great." His tone clearly stated that he didn't see the point of this.

Blindside worked in silence, stopping flows and checking what connections he knew how to fix. He opened up a secure connection. ::Knockout, question for you.::

::Is it life or death?:: The medic responded sounding a little annoyed.

::Just found a flier that was gunned down. He's still kicking.::

::What do you need?:: The annoyance was gone.

::Some metal for reinforcement. His leg's torn up pretty bad. A cube of energon would be good, too.::

::Send your location, I'm on my way.::

The pirate nodded, the points sent. "I've got a medic who can help you. Sit tight; we'll get you back in one piece."

Ghoststorm didn't say anything. He was studying Blindside carefully. The designation matched one on his list of escaped subjects from Lockdown's ship - but why would the mech risk himself to help him? It made no sense.

Blindside watched the treeline for more men, only sparing the mech a few glances as he waited for some sign of the medic. When Knockout's engine could be heard, the mech stiffened, ready to try to fight or run if he had to. A few kliks later the medic appeared.

"Easy," Blindside warned. He waved Knockout down.

"Was that a Cemetery truck I saw burning down there?" He asked with some amusement.

"Yes. The irony is too much," Blindside joked mockingly, no humor just annoyance in his voice.

"Let's see the damage." He crouched down beside the unfamiliar mech, noting what Blindside had already done and what still needed to be done. "Seen worse," he commented as he started working. "I can do some field patches here," he left the rest hanging. The obvious next step was to go where they had more equipment and supplies.

::We may want this to be a catch and release, KO.:: Blindside opened up the private comm. ::I can't place this guy, but he seems familiar. And he sure as hell sounds like a Con.::

::Might be inclined to agree.:: Knockout responded, not sure what it was about the mech that made him so uncomfortable.

Blindside kept racking his processor, but it just wouldn't come. Still, he needed help. The pirate once again kept watch but couldn't stop glancing to Ghoststorm.

When Knockout finished, he handed over a cube of energon. "It's not flier grade, but it's better than nothing."

Ghoststorm took it warily. He probably would have refused altogether if he weren't so dangerously low. He intended to sip the fuel, wait for his systems to tell him if anything was wrong with it, but the moment it hit his lips he no longer had a choice and downed it in one gulp. Knockout looked over the mech, dismay in his optics. They had repaired the worst of his damages, he wouldn't bleed out or run dry, but he was far from fixed.

::He'll be grounded if we don't do some engine work,:: Knockout pointed out. ::But he should be able to walk.::

In the distance the fire was roaring, consuming more and more of the woodland. There was the distant sound of helicopters heading toward it. Blindside groaned. He really didn't want to bring any more mechs back to KSI, but the moment the humans realize they were involved, it was just going to get muddier.

"Okay, time to get the hell outta Iacon," Blindside said, pushing himself to his feet.

"And go where, precisely?" Ghoststorm asked.

"Away from here," Knockout stated as they could hear the sounds of heavy duty engines joining the approaching helicopters. "Unless you want to wait for the welcome wagon."

"And we're going," Blindside waved them along, guiding them into the woods.

Ghoststorm didn't seem sure but followed anyway. If he was lucky, maybe this would end well for him. Knockout followed the larger mech, both to keep an eye on him to make sure none of the repairs failed and to make sure the mech didn't suddenly turn on them. He definitely had doubts.


	41. Chapter 41

Scattered Illusions: Shattered World

~*~ Chapter Forty-One ~*~

One Year 5 Days

The pirate maneuvered the woods, heading farther from the fire and trying to avoid the road he had taken into this place. He was starting to kick himself for saving this mech. They didn't know him, had no reason to trust him, and had no where to take him. Then again, it would be nice to have a flier in their crew, someone to keep an eye from the sky. Blindside shook it off. Another Decepticon for Tanya to burn at the stake was nothing they wanted right now. Knockout kept his scanners focused behind them, watching for more Cemetery Wind soldiers to come after them - they were sure to notice their missing crew before long, if they hadn't been keeping up during the fight. Ghoststorm kept quiet, just waiting to see what the next move should be. If this was in fact the missing subject than he was sure to lead him to the familial unit that Rail was offering a special high grade for the return of.

Blindside paused. ::We should wait until dark before going back.:: He told Knockout. ::Keep moving away from the fire, of course, but heading back in with a flier is not gonna be easy.::

::A casual stroll through a city populated with hyped up aliens out for energon is not my idea of a good time either. We may have to arrange transportation.:: He listened to the humans' radio lines and picked up talk of military groups moving in the disaster zones. ::Finding a place to hide might not be a bad idea though.::

Blindside nodded, pulling up maps of the area. ::There's a bluff, out by a river. Only a few kliks west. We should be able to hunker down and wait 'em out.::

When they reached the bluff, Ghoststorm looked disapprovingly over the area. "This is where you're staying? Hardly safe." It made him wonder how they hadn't been found yet...and where the others were.

"We make do," Blindside said, confusion touched his brow.

Knockout looked around, keeping the human lines open so he could track them, and found a good place to relax for a bit. Blindside walked down to the bank of the river, keeping a scan going for movement further west. Ghoststorm paced for a while, uncomfortable waiting. He could be patient though. That was how he would complete this mission.

"You should relax, don't aggravate your damage," Knockout suggested.

::So do we bring him back?:: Blindside asked.

::I...don't know.:: he sounded lost. There used to be easy rules to follow, clear lines to tread, but now everything was all mixed up. ::You know anything about him?::

Blindside vented annoyed. ::I feel like I should, but I don't.::

::Then I guess we take him home. We have been in the business of picking up strays lately.:: He still didn't feel too sure about it, but what else were they going to do? Set him out on his own still damaged? They might as well deactivate him themselves.

::Okay,:: the pirate nodded. ::We'll go tonight.:: He settled onto the bank.

Ghoststorm settled finally, his injuries ached, his engine ached, his everything ached. He didn't intend to fall into recharge, but eventually his systems demanded enough he gave without realizing. Knockout tried to plan their next move. They couldn't walk to KSI, they needed a truck. He glanced at Ghoststorm - a big truck. Blindside started to doze and had to shake himself awake several times. He glanced to Knockout torn about playing his music with the medic so close.

::Recharge,:: Knockout suggested. ::Got a hold of Prowl; Hound and Bulkhead are going to bring a trailer after sunset. Can't do anything until then.::

Blindside shook his head. ::I'll be fine.::

Knockout glanced at him. ::Uh-huh,:: he said doubtfully.

::Frag off,:: the pirate grumped.

::You've been off lately,:: he pointed out. ::Not going to pry, just thought you should know it's showing. Don't drop on me, alright?::

Blindside looked at him, a glare, if he could call it that. Then he grunted. Still, he didn't recharge. Knockout ignored the glare and settled himself into a light recharge, still keeping track of human communication and waiting for the ping from their pick up. Blindside looked out across the river. Some drive this turned out to be. As he sat, the fatigue grew heavier and before he knew it, arms propped on his knees, his head dipped.

It was several hours later before Knockout came fully online again. He listened for a few minutes before getting to his feet. "Alright mechs, that's our taxi. Let's get moving."

Ghoststorm came online violently, if his guns had not been jammed, he likely would have shot the medic. "You should be more careful," he grumbled as he got himself under control.

"What would be the fun in that?" Knockout asked mildly.

Blindside woke, staring at the ground for a moment then lifted his head. He felt a little better, his unease missing. He stood and stretched then locked to the large mechs coming their way.

"What is this?" Ghoststorm asked as he spotted the two mechs and the trailer.

"Your ride." Knockout headed toward the pair.

"What?"

"You can't just stroll though human cities right now, and you can't fly. That leaves you riding in."

"Those are Autobots," Ghoststorm pointed out as if the other mech's scanners must be off.

"That they are. Do you want your engine repaired or would you like to walk off into the sunset? Either is fine by me...well, the second would be easier for me but something about leaving a flier grounded on a planet of aliens hunting our kind down doesn't sit well with me." He shrugged. "Still, your choice." By this time they had reached Hound and Bulkhead. Knockout stood expectantly beside the trailer.

Ghoststorm couldn't stop the growl that started in his engine but ended roughly with grinding gears and smoke. "Fine." Clearly he didn't have a choice.

Blindside opened the trailer. The frustration from the flier made him smirk but he kept whatever comments he had to himself.

For the briefest of moments fear flashed over the large mech's face, but with determination and as much dignity as he could muster, he climbed in.

"Good boy," Knockout quipped as he helped secure the doors.

When they were loaded and ready, the convoy moved out of the woods and back into the city. It was a careful trip, avoiding the fire, emergency services, and Cemetery agents, but they made the trip without incident.

Once they were inside KCI, Knockout lead Ghoststorm directly to the medbay, not wanting to cause problems or to give the mech a chance to get a good look around. Ghoststorm followed slowly taking what chance he had to look for the other missing subjects. Blindside followed, his optics out for Tanya. Thankfully she wasn't around. He helped Knockout where he could, still uneasy about having Ghoststorm here.

When they got to the medbay, Ratchet was busy at work on a frame Knockout had started with him - if the mech wasn't going to take it easy, he might as well be useful. The older medic looked up, looked over the new mech warily, then went back to work. He didn't seem inclined to help.

Ghoststorm did as he was instructed until the point Knockout was going to put him in stasis; he protested vehemently.

"Even I won't work on an engine while a mech is still online," Knockout growled with annoyance.

"You think I'm an idiot? I don't know you, how do I know you won't offline me? Or worse!"

"Why would I drag you all the way here for that? It would have been easy enough to do that in the field, or to have just left you to Cemetery."

"That's not a fate for any 'bot," Ratchet commented, speaking for the first time.

Blindside watched the flier for some time. Not reassuring him or confirming his fears. He simply held the sedative, ready to jump in.

Ghoststorm studied Ratchet. "Do I know you?"

"No, now be a mech and do as your medic says." He went back to his work and ignored what was going on.

Knockout took the sedative while Ghoststorm was preoccupied and jammed it into a line quickly. He expected to be hit before it took affect, but Ghoststorm just glared. Blindside shook his head and prepared an energon line for when the mech went into recharge. It took a lot longer than most would have for the sedative to take hold, but still relatively quickly for a mech Ghoststorm's size. As soon as he got the infusion line secure, Blindside moved away from the mech and went to his corner to work but changed his mind halfway there. He simply rested, running lyrics through his processor.

Once Ghoststorm was out, Knockout started working quietly, fixing the mech's engines and other damages, but left his weapons disabled. They didn't want any accidents.

Prowl came to the medbay quite some time later; it was the first chance he had since the refugees' arrival here at KCI. He looked blankly at Ratchet before recognition hit. He knew that the sparks of the medic and Wheeljack - who was still enjoying deep recharge - had been placed in new frames, but it was still a surprise. "Ratchet, I am pleased to see you."

"I'm surprised you lasted this long," Ratchet teased.

"So am I," it was hard to tell if the tactician was joking or not, but Ratchet seemed satisfied with the conversation.

"I have come to speak with Ghoststorm. I have no records of any 'bot with such a designation. Neither does Jazz."

"He should be coming online in a few breems," Knockout said as he stepped away from the flier. "Do what you like. He has no weapons."

"Acceptable." Prowl stood patiently to wait, studying the large mech carefully.

Knockout went to check on Wheeljack, wondering how he had managed to stay in recharge so long when he could barely get Ratchet off his feet. Still, he noted the inventor's vitals and was pleased before looking to what Ratchet had done with the new frame...frames, he corrected himself as he took note of some hastily moved tables now supporting several frames in different stages of completion. "Over achieve much?" He teased as he looked over them. He was quickly impressed by the quality of work and details done. These frames made Ratchet and Wheeljack's look, well, old.

"No sense in waiting," Ratchet commented.

"We'll have to see what we can do about your recharge denial."

"I'm fine," he growled in a tone that Prowl recognized as Ratchet's way of avoiding things. It caught his attention immediately and he turned his focus to the medic, but his quiet evaluation was halted by the sound of a high power system coming online.

Ghoststorm didn't move as his systems started up, noting the repairs and that his weapons were offline - he had expected that - and found himself rather surprised by the amount of work done. He had counted on being given the bare essentials and sent on his way.

"Your designation is Ghoststorm, correct?" Prowl asked as soon as he was sure the mech was aware enough to comprehend.

"Correct," the flier grumbled through a recharge heavy vocalizer. "And you are?"

"Designation Prowl. Currently operating as head officer for the 'bots that have chosen to stay with our group. What is your alignment?"

Ghoststorm was put off a little by the mech's straightforward approach. Prowl? Wasn't he supposed to be some big shot Autobot? "My alignment is unimportant."

Prowl's optics narrowed ever so slightly. "What is your current mission?"

The flier scoffed. "To keep functioning, though it seems to be getting harder these orns."

Prowl had to give on that point; survival had become a rather desperate thing of late. "What were you doing in the location you were discovered?"

"Hiding with my trine until those organic things came along and deactivated my partners..." there was genuine grief in Ghoststorm's tone, though it was only slight and very brief. Clearly he wasn't comfortable exposing his emotions to strangers, if to anyone at all.

Blindside lifted his head out of the semi-recharge, watching the mech with a scowl on his face. 'Unaligned, my aft.' Still, he had no proof that Ghoststorm had ill intentions.

"Your loss is regrettable." How many 'bots were going to be deactivated before this was over? "You will be safe here should you choose to stay, though there are rules that must be adhered to at all times. There are humans here, they have welcomed us here and provided us with a safe place to stay. Outside of this building is no guarantee. You are not to harm anyone here - human, Autobot, Decepticon, or Neutral. You will be expected to aid in the duties that must be done." Prowl waited for acknowledgment.

"You are inviting me to stay? Here? But you don't know me." Ghoststorm was sure there must be something going on in the processor of the mech that he just hadn't singled out yet.

"No. No one seems to know you, which given our circumstance is not too surprising. This is why, so long as you stay here unless it is needed for duty, your weapons will remain deactivated. I will expect you to respect those who are residing here and not start trouble. There is no war inside this building, only survivors."

Ghoststorm looked shocked by that last statement. This was a refugee group? Well then... "I wouldn't mind having a safe place to recharge."

Blindside shifted, his frame rattling some. He silently winced, just knowing he'd garnered attention. Primus, he should have rested orns ago. Knockout just made an uh-huh sound, knowing Blindside would know exactly what he was thinking.

Ratchet on the other hand did not hesitate to go look the mech over. "You know you need recharge," he said it as fact instead of question or suggestion. "What is keeping you from listening to your frame?"

"What's keeping you?" Blindside bit back; anger meant for Knockout now misdirected. "You want a therapy session, save it for an empty room."

Ratchet's expression went from calm understanding to glaring annoyance. "Deactivated 'bots, that's what keeps me up." He vented to calm his racing spark. He was angry, frustrated, and felt as though he had failed too many. "If you insist on driving yourself to stasis, I'll gladly put you there myself."

Knockout watched the exchange closely, but well out of striking range. Both mechs were in need of rest without doubt, maybe they would sort each other out and he wouldn't need to get involved.

Blindside shoved himself to his feet. "They've waited this long, they can wait a little longer. You'll drive yourself to a second grave if you keep going like this. Is that what you want?" He barked. "These people need you. So, bury your slagging pride and get some fragging rest."

The anger that rolled off the medic was all but visible. Before even he knew what he was doing, he had grabbed Blindside by the front of his armor and shoved him onto one of the tables, knocking the frame that had been there to the floor. This frame had more power than he realized, not that he was thinking about that now. He was angry and his spark was pulsing wildly with it.

"Whoa!" Knockout ran to stop the medic, Prowl coming from the other side.

Blindside kicked the medic off of him and threw a fist as his face plates.

Ratchet took the blow giving one of his own aimed at sensitive joint armor on the mech's side. Prowl reached the medic before he could throw another punch, Knockout grabbed for Blindside. The pirate cried out, the pain blinding. He practically crumpled against Knockout, though he did try to get to his feet.

"Easy," Knockout grabbed the mech and hauled him back onto the table. "Just stay here a klik." He turned to where Prowl was struggling to restrain Ratchet. The mech was livid, but Knockout really didn't care. What he did care about was the alarms the other medic's spark was triggering. He needed to calm down, now.

"You have a good hold?" Knockout asked Prowl.

Prowl simply nodded.

Knockout slid up beside Ratchet tapping into his systems quickly and triggering medical stasis. His frame went limp immediately and Prowl sagged under the weight.

Knockout cleared the table meant as Ratchet's berth - which had turned work station - and helped move the medic onto it.

Knockout turned back to Blindside. "What's the damage?"

The pirate moved his hand away from the pain shooting up his side. "Just my pride." He lifted his head to see Ratchet's still frame before letting his head back down with an audible clang. "Ow," he winced.

"Good. Now, did he knock any sense into you?" Knockout was already prepared to put Blindside under as well, but gave him the chance to choose.

The pirate vented heavily for several moments. "I can't stay under when I try. Please." He offlined his optics so he wouldn't have to see the medic laugh.

"Alright," Knockout agreed, not needing a second invitation. "You just had to ask," he said as he gave Blindside the drug. He would have a good long recharge.

"I don't like asking," the pirate managed before he dropped under the influence of the sedative.

Knockout turned back for Ratchet, interest stirring. He wondered what had caused that reaction and why so violently. Prowl made sure Knockout didn't need anything more before offering to show Ghoststorm to the main bay.

"This was not an example of normal behavior," he explained.

"Huh, and here I thought it felt so homey." The mech teased as he followed the tactician.

As Prowl entered the main bay with Ghoststorm behind him, most everyone took note. Some friendly, some less so. Sidestep slunk across the bay to where Silverdust was playing happily. Illusory went tense and tried her best to become invisible. The mech was very big and very unfamiliar - she didn't like the combination. Scatterblade immediately put himself in front of Illusory.

::Prowl, what's going on?:: he asked cautiously.

::Blindside found him being attacked by Cemetery Wind - they deactivated his trine mates and he was severely injured. Knockout brought him here for repairs and he is currently going to reside here with us. His weapons are disabled until his intentions are proven.::

::Ooo-kay,:: he said slowly, discomfort seeping in from Illusory.

::Will there be an issue?:: He was honestly concerned. He knew Illusory was skittish on a good day.

::Just a little startling.:: Scatterblade pulled himself back, the panic ebbing away.

Ghoststorm pretended not to notice the stares as he looked around. He felt a glimmer of pity for these 'bots - huddled in the spare space handed out to them by the very creatures that would love nothing more than to see them all torn apart. It was disgusting. However, on a positive note, the familial unit was indeed here. He knew that mech would lead him right to them. Now, to get them all out of here and back to Rail so he could claim his reward. He could taste the high grade already.

Prowl introduced those that came to investigate; Hound being one of the first, wanting to be sure the mech they had hauled back was okay. Bumblebee came to meet the new mech, friendly as always, though he left soon enough - he disapproved of the mechs views on humans. Jazz also came, but he never wandered off after striking up conversation. He was determined to figure the mech out before he became trouble - which Jazz was only assuming he would. Illusory remained uncomfortable with the mech's presence, all but tackling Silverdust when the young femme had wanted to go say 'hi' to him.

As things began to settle down, Scatterblade sent a request to Drift, asked him to keep an optic on Illusory and Silverdust while he went down to the medbay. He was still worried about Blindside. The wrecker responded to his request agreeing to watch over his family.

'Where are you going?' Illusory asked as soon as he moved, fear and anxiety wrapped her spark. She pulled Silverdust closer to her, the sparkling groaning with her own frustration.

"Lemme go!" She whined. "I wanna play."

'I just want to check on Blindside. I won't be long.' Scatterblade lifted from his spot on the floor.

'O-okay,' she stammered, trying not to let the fear control her. It was a very near thing as she watched him go, but she was determined to hold up on her own.

'I'll be right here,' he reminded her, holding her tightly over their bond.

When he reached the medbay, he saw the two mechs in stasis. "Knockout, what happened?" He asked alarm spiking in him and he walked toward Blindside.

"Good question," the medic grumbled. "Ratchet...snapped." He shrugged, still unsure of the why.

"Snapped? What about Blindside?"

Knockout vented heavily. "He wasn't recharging. He opted for drug induced recharge."

Scatterblade groaned not entirely surprised. "Ratchet didn't want to recharge, did he." He shook his head. "It's a wonder any of us are alive. All the stubborn old afts..." he paused, the sparks catching his attention. "Knockout. That...that spark is flickering."

"What?" Knockout spun around, his current diversion completely forgotten.

"Is that..." he scrutinized the spark signature. His optics widened. "That's...that's Sunstreaker. Dear, Primus...they stole his spark!"

"You've got to be slagging kidding me!" Knockout grabbed the cage and hauled it over to one of the mostly complete frames, then paused. "Wasn't his twin deactivated?"

"Wait," he stayed the medic, "Yes. But...Do we really want to give that news to him?"

"Chances are he already knows. Twins...spark twins, share a bond." He scanned the spark within and wished that Ratchet hadn't snapped just yet. "Could be his spark is missing its twin. He's probably deactivating."

"So, what do we do? How is he going to manage that?" Scatterblade felt a cold wave wash over him at the thought of being split like that so completely.

"I honestly don't know. I never did study spark illnesses very closely. Split sparks weren't even a topic of study - too rare." He stood with his hand on the cage, clearly not knowing what to do next.

Scatterblade vented, he didn't want to let him deactivate, not without a fighting chance, but imagining the nearly uncontrollable twin without his anchor was just as terrible an image. He looked over to Ratchet and Wheeljack and wondered, who were they to play Primus? To screw with their friends' lives? Philosophy aside, they had to decide.

"We have to save him." Scatterblade wasn't sure what he meant; letting him go peacefully or giving him a second chance.

"We'll give him a chance to live," Knockout decided grimly, pretty certain that he was going to pay dearly for his choice.

"What can I do?" Scatterblade offered, ready to assist.

He looked to Blindside. "Help me make sure the spark doesn't go anywhere but into the casing." He rushed through some final connections on the frame and directed Scatterblade through setting up the infusion lines before setting the cage as close to the spark camber as he could. "Ready?"

Scatterblade set his hands on the sides of the cage near the top of the frame. "Ready."

Stilling his vents, Knockout released the spark and grabbed hold of it. The other two had struggled, but neither one compared to this. However, once the spark hit the chamber, the frame came to life immediately.

Scatterblade struggled to keep a hand on the mech, shouting his name to reach him somehow. He commed Prowl immediately, ::Get down here, Sunstreaker's awake!::

There was an odd sound over the open line, then silence for an astrosecond. ::On my way.::

::Make it,:: Scatterblade was shoved away by a powerful blow, ::make it quick.::


	42. Chapter 42

Scattered Illusions: Shattered World

~*~ Chapter Forty-Two ~*~

One Year 6 Days

Knockout grunted, struggling to latch the spark case before Sunstreaker laid them 'both out and left the spark exposed and unsynced. He screamed as his arm was wrenched, pulling the joints apart and snapping parts that refused to give to the sudden and powerful movement.

Sunstreaker growled and snarled, lost to the same battle rage that he had been taken down in - amped by loss he could feel deep in his spark but didn't yet understand.

Scatterblade hurried to help adjust the case, fighting for control of the mech. "Sunstreaker, come back!" He barked.

Knockout managed to hang on long enough to secure the casing before he was knocked back so hard his helm fractured when he fell against one of the closely packed tables. He climbed unsteady to his feet just as pounding footfalls heralded the arrival of more mechs. Hound, Prowl, Jazz, and Blurr all crowded into the room. Scatterblade abandoned the crazed mech to better known hands, hurrying to help Knockout.

The four mechs moved easily as though they had done this exact thing before. It took several breems before they were able to subdue him and pin him, howling like a glitched hellhound. Knockout moved to get to the mech, but his frame wouldn't have it and he fell again. He spoke, but half of what he said came out in a garbled mix of languages and static, only vaguely could the words 'slagger' and 'medical stasis' be understood from the mess.

Scatterblade helped the medic stand, pulling his good arm over his shoulder. "Jazz, get him under."

"Workin' on it," the saboteur grunted between clenched denta. Despite being pinned, Sunstreaker was still giving them a run for what they were worth.

Knockout tried to get his feet back under him, but he couldn't determine what was up or down - his equilibrium was entirely slagged.

Wheeljack, seeming entirely unperturbed by all the goings on walked into the chaos, humming something cheery to himself, reached over with a tool no one recognized and touched it to the struggling mech's frame. Sunstreaker instantly went still.

"There," he said happily, "that should help."

Jazz was able to initiate medical stasis and - for good measure - they strapped the mech to the table.

Scatterblade vented hard, ignoring his own injuries as he assessed Knockout's. He eased the medic down against a table to steady him as he swayed terribly. Knockout grumbled and growled between garbled bursts of static and mix language, growing more disoriented as he went.

Wheeljack looked at Knockout with concern. "Ratchet should probably take a look at him." He glanced at Scatterblade and winced. "You too. Wow, what happened?" He was looking around the medbay and saw the mess and Blindside and Ratchet deep in recharge.

Scatterblade vented pulling cooler air in to calm down. "Sunstreaker's spark - was fading. I thought we were losing him."

"Oh," he still seemed a little confused. "Guess he didn't come online happy?"

Knockout garbled out something with an aggressive arm wave that almost sent him off the table.

"You should have contacted someone," Prowl said as he joined them, looking over the damaged mechs. "Though perhaps neither of you knew enough of Sunstreaker to be prepared." He weighed options and looked to where Ratchet lay. "I do not know what Ratchet's state of being may be, but perhaps it would be prudent to bring him back online."

"Knockout had to put him under. He said he just snapped. I wasn't down here so I don't have the details. But I know Ratchet wasn't resting properly," the front-liner said.

"I was present for that event," Prowl vented wearily. "Still, I do not believe we have another option."

Knockout was protesting...maybe. Really no one could tell; his movements were uncoordinated and his speech more static than anything else.

"Yeah, Ah think so too," Wheeljack agreed as he poked around at Knockout's damaged arm. "Ah can work on this...but that processor is outta wack. That's Ratchet's deal. Besides, with Sunny around, probably need Ratch ta straighten him out...or Sides." He wasn't really paying attention to anyone else, his interest in repairing the torn shoulder joint.

Scatterblade opened his mouth to correct him but he closed it and busied himself with helping Knockout lie down on the berth. Knockout stopped fighting, letting Wheeljack manipulate his arm and laid down with Scatterblade's direction.

"Jazz, can you remove the medical lock and bring Ratchet out of stasis?" It was less of a question and more of a polite order.

"Sure thing, Prowler." He slid over to the medic, looking over the new frame curiously before tapping in to begin the process.

Scatterblade watched warily. Ratchet had protested rest earlier and he still didn't like the idea of getting him up so soon, but he was needed.

Ratchet groaned as he came online.

"Hey, mech. Sorry ta bug ya-"

"How bad is the damage?" He grumbled, pushing himself up off the table.

"Uh, well...Blade got a little roughed up and Ah think Knockout got his processors scrambled by Sunny."

"Sunny?" Confusion and alarm was heavy in his voice, but his attention was already on the two mech's across the room from him. He looked over Scatterblade quickly and motioned for him to go sit until he was ready for him. Scatterblade nodded obediently, sitting and watching over the sleeping twin mournfully.

Ratchet put Knockout into stasis immediately, then began examining his processors through careful scans and the medical tap that let him move around in the other medic's basic processor functions.

Blurr and Hound left, having their duties to see to, and Jazz went to resume his friendly interrogation. Prowl remained, quiet and out of the way.

When Ratchet finished with Knockout's internal issues, he patched the fracture in his helm and released the medical lock so the mech could come online when he was ready, then turned to Scatterblade. "Where's the worst?" He asked as he looked over what he could see.

The front-liner complied, showing off a few spots that were cracked on his chassis and torso.

Ratchet did the repairs, finding more as he went from older injuries. His expression remained neutral, his demeanor professional verging on kind asking questions about how some of them happened, or what else needed looking after.

::Are you okay?:: Scatterblade asked tentatively.

::Of course,:: he responded automatically. Then after a moment he added; ::I have to be.:: Those last words were spoken with guilt, but he offered a small smile for Scatterblade's benefit.

::You need to rest in order to be,:: Scatterblade said, not trying to guilt him or berate him. Just a concerned friend.

Ratchet grunted, somewhat amused. ::You're too young to lecture me,:: there was a sense of humor in his voice. It seemed that tiny confession had eased the weight on the medic and his mood improved.

::Don't give me reason to lecture you,:: Scatterblade grinned.

He sat back finally, satisfied with his work. "Alright, I'm done with you." He looked over the medbay, taking in everything. His gaze paused on Blindside before moving to Sunstreaker. He moved to the front-liner, scanning his spark carefully.

Scatterblade glanced to his friend. The mech was still in deep recharge, though his frame looked tense and Scatterblade could see his fists tighten every once in a while. He shook his head and looked back to Sunstreaker, hoping he could recover.

Ratchet vented softly, his frame sagging. "Sideswipe?" He asked hopelessly.

"Deactivated," Prowl answered stoically. Still, his doorwings twitched in an echo of his grief over another loss.

"Figures he would have to go first..."

"What do we do, now?" Scatterblade vented softly.

"We fix him up, give him plenty of energon and hope for the best. There's a chance he could survive."

"The odds are not supportive," Prowl pointed out.

"The odds haven't been supportive for anything in a long time. Yet, here we still are."

The front-liner cringed at the thought of being here when he did wake up. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

"He'll be okay," Wheeljack commented from where he had moved onto a new project, though what he was doing only he knew. "Wait an' see."

Scatterblade nodded, pulling himself out of the topic. He didn't need to comment on every little thing. His processor was too consumed with his family. He glanced to Blindside. The pirate had earned his spot being worried over and cared about. He couldn't help but wonder if the wanderer would stick around. Blindside had always been one to look to the stars and want to be there and not with his feet firmly on the ground. Worry blossomed once more as the pirate's fist clenched again.

Prowl stayed a while, watching Ratchet and Wheeljack before it seemed he felt that there would not be another outburst and left without saying anything. Wheeljack hummed happily as he worked, Ratchet pretend not to notice as he tried to solve the issue that was Sunstreaker without his twin. Scatterblade vented once more before shoving off the berth and taking his leave. Illusory needed him. He would already have to explain the new work on his frame.

Illusory had done her best to keep calm and the effort showed in her tightly clamped armor and her stiff posture. At some point it seemed Silverdust had escaped her grip and was playing with Sidestep a short distance away. Ghoststorm was lounging on the opposite side of the bay talking with Jazz and Hound. He didn't appear interested in anyone else in the area.

Scatterblade joined his femme in their corner. He knelt down next to her and touched his head to hers. "Hey," he murmured.

Her frame was hot to the touch, but once he made contact with her she vented and her armor loosened a little. "Hi," her voice trembled.

"Hey," he slid behind her and put his arms around her. "Relax. I've got you."

She leaned on him, forcing her frame to relax and letting her cooling fans and vents work off the heat. "Is everything okay?"

Scatterblade helped, running his vents over her. 'Knockout got Sunstreaker into a frame,' he said, discomfort seeping off his end of their bond.

'Is...is he okay?' She felt that something was off but couldn't pin it to anything in particular.

Scatterblade felt his tanks turn. Why did he always have to remind her of the horror they had seen? 'Do you remember what happened to Sideswipe?' He asked patiently.

'Yes...' Guilt and grief welled up inside her at the memory. She had tried to help save the silver front-liner but hadn't been able to. She had felt his spark stop pulsing beneath her hands.

'He's going to be a wreck,' he said sadly. 'When he came to, it was really bad. He hurt Knockout pretty badly.'

"What?" She sat up in surprise, horror at the thought. She turned to look at her mate, drawing conclusions that were half paranoia, part using what she knew and observed. "Will he be okay?" She asked even as over their bond 'You were there! Are you okay?' came riding on the edge of distress and worry. There was an echo of thought that proclaimed 'I knew it would never be okay' that hadn't been intended to be heard. She looked over her mate, spotting the new repairs.

"I'm fine. He only got one swing on me. Knockout will be fine. Ratchet's already finishing repairs," he assured her.

She looked as though he had told her they would all deactivate in their recharge instead of relieved by the assurance. "He could have offlined you both..."

"Prowl, Jazz, Hound, and Blurr" he counted off on his hand. "We were okay."

"But..." it took a klik for her to recognize the wild fear that was driving her to think the worst and focused on trying to shove it down again. "I am sorry...I know you are okay now. I know he did not mean to hurt anyone..." she recited aloud to remind herself not to let her fear control her.

"It'll be alright. We're going to help him."

"How?" She wanted to believe that it could be done, but her spark insisted that it could not.

"I don't know, but we've got to try."

She nodded again, leaning against him once more with her head on his chest.

He held her closely, venting softly.

Rex had been chatting with Hound about what patrols were going for a full five minutes before he spotted the strange mech. The big strange mech who was sitting as comfortably as if he had always been there...whom he had never seen before. "Who is that?"

Hound glanced over to the mech and smiled. "Oh, that's Ghoststorm."

As if on cue, the elevator chimed and out stalked Tanya, blonde pony swinging. She stopped just in the doorway to the Bay, jaw tight, fists closed at her sides. "Wakeheart," she clipped.

Rex spun around, anger instantly rising to sap away whatever he might have thought about the appearance of a strange new mech. "What do you want?" He growled.

She nudged her chin to the right, clearly unwilling to ream him with witnesses.

"Do you think I'm stupid? That I don't what goes on my building?" Tanya snapped as he came closer. "What the hell kind of Frankenstein science are you doing downstairs?"

"I'm not doing anything," he stated. "As far as what's going on downstairs - repairs, by my understanding."

"Don't make me repeat myself," she seethed. "I know there are more robots here, and I'm not talking about the new guy."

"Well, that depends on how you count I guess," his tone was cold but he kept his expression neutral. "There are the same number - plus one, and counting those that are currently out at the moment - of readable spark signatures in this building as there were the day we arrived."

"Don't be smart with me," she leveled him an angry glare. "You have one warning. Stop the activities downstairs, before I shut it down."

"You will deny them medical care? Forbid them to treat their own?" He felt his anger boiling like lava within. "I won't stop that."

"Stop resurrecting them," she growled.

"They're not dead!" He snapped.

Tanya grinned, a slight upturn to one side of her mouth, eyes hard and icy. "They're POW at best. Stop."

"No." He turned away from her, intending to leave it at that or risk punching a woman in the face - not something his pride would handle well.

"Do you know where Miss Hall is, right now?" Tanya asked folding her arms and titling her chin up. "I could still arrest you both for obstruction and she'd be out of here faster than you could turn around."

His anger blew, to hell with pride. "You have no right!" He yelled. "If you touch her, if you do anything at all to Charlie..." he was seething by this time, too angry to even think clearly.

Across the bay, Illusory jumped at Rex's raised voice, his anger too clear to miss. She scrambled to her feet, her processors dividing between finding Silverdust and Charlie and making sure they were protected, and going to Rex to help with whatever had set him off. Sidestep had been nearly as quick, grabbing Silverdust by the back of her armor and trotting off to hide her away; pinging her creators with a very protective 'I will keep her safe'. Most everyone else was instantly on guard, but were more cautious about jumping directly into flight or flight mode. Prowl spotted the pair, seeing there was some altercation about to break he headed that way, not wanting to intrude but unwilling to allow anything to happen.

Tanya was about to start laughing, out loud. "You are nothing more than a fugitive. And Joyce is a fool to try and protect you. I can and I will if you don't stop." She turned and headed for the stairs next to the elevator.

Illusory went to Rex, knowing Silverdust was safe in the quadruped's care and having no idea where Charlie was. She spotted the woman walking away. "What is going on?" She asked, her voice somewhere between a protective growl and trembling fear. Rex just stood, jaw clenched and fists white with anger.

"Rex?" The femme pushed.

Scatterblade joined them, kneeling down in front of the man. "Rex. What's wrong?"

He took a deep breath as Tanya disappeared. "I need to find Charlie," he grumbled, hiding his fear that he was already too late.

"No," Scatterblade insisted, "explain, now." His panic was clear and he didn't want to play games right now.

"That...woman, threatened Charlie if I don't..." he shook with his anger as he bit back a scream of frustration, "if I don't stop you guys from restoring the sparks." He looked at the floor, he couldn't bear to look at them. "I have to go find Charlie and make sure nothings happened to her."

Stunned Scatterblade tried to reign in the anger starting to rise. "Good. We'll worry about the medbay. Find Charlie."

Rex nodded, still unable to look at his friends. He was so angry. He almost thought they would have been better off staying in the forest, hidden and isolated. Of course, if they had they wouldn't have found Ratchet, or Wheeljack, or any number of other good 'bots trapped in that unimaginable state. He punched the wall of the elevator a few times, unable to just wait while it carried him up.

Illusory felt a pit in her tanks. Of course this would happen. What were they thinking coming here looking for hope? The thought of Charlie captured and being used as a pawn against them was nearly too much for the femme to take. Her armor pulled tight against her frame again as she tried to keep her emotions from overwhelming her - and if not that, at least to protect Scatterblade from them as well as she could.

Prowl just vented as though this were nothing more than another inconvenience of many lining up. What was he going to do? Risk lives trying to save lives? Choose who was more important? Place more value on what they had then on the attempt to do better? He truly missed having Optimus and his calm confidence around. He headed for the medbay.

Scatterblade did what he could to comfort Illusory, but his concerns were distracted. Charlie was like a sister them, though sometimes with the protectiveness he felt she was very nearly Silverdust's sister. She meant too much to him, to all of them, really. At times, she felt like their mascot, cheerleader and mother all rolled in one. She was family and everyone in their group was prepared to defend that family.

Illusory vented hard a few times before trying to say or do anything. "Go help Prowl." She didn't know what to do, or what she could do, but her mate could help. She didn't need to hold onto him like a sparkling every time things got bad.

He placed a hand on her back. "Don't be alone, okay? Will you stay with Jazz?"

"I will be okay," she did her best to sound confident.

"Just call if you need me." He headed downstairs.

She watched him go, fighting the urge to either run after him or fall apart. Her processor turned to Charlie and Rex. She needed to know that they were okay, but how? A thought finally came to her. ::Sidestep...may I ask a favor of you?:: She was desperate and she knew it showed in her tone.

::Silverdust is safe,:: he responded, assuming the jumpy femme was worried for her sparkling as she constantly did.

::I know, but that is not what I need. She will be okay with me, but I need to know what is happening with Charlie and Rex. I cannot go walking around so many humans,:: for more reasons than her poor sight.

::You want me to find them?:: He was intrigued by the thought of stalking humans.

::Yes, please?::

::And when I find them?::

::Keep them safe.::

::Why?::

Anger flashed through her, then fear. ::Because they are family...::

The mech was silent, debating. ::Fine, but only because I like the idea of hunting humans.:: He appeared from wherever he had taken Silverdust to hide, the sparkling on his back.

"Thank you," she felt strange asking him for favors, but she also felt that he wasn't just doing it because she had asked.


	43. Chapter 43

Warning for Adult contents.

* * *

Scattered Illusions: Shattered World

~*~ Chapter Forty-Three ~*~

One Year 6 Days

Scatterblade hurried down to the med bay, amazed the elevator could go through this much abuse. Ratchet and Wheeljack were busy working on something together. Knockout was sitting in a corner with one hand pressed into his head - still readjusting from the shake up, he felt too sensitive to outside stimulants - and Sunstreaker still lay quietly strapped down where he had been before. His frame looked more put together and a little more like it had life in it, but not like Ratchet or Wheeljack had been only moments after connecting with their new frames.

Scatterblade looked about for Prowl, wondering if he had beat him down here, but moved to the more pressing issue. "Ratchet. I need to talk to you."

The medic looked up immediately, concern in his optics. "What happened?"

"There's a woman named Tanya, not sure if you've heard of her yet," the mech vented to keep from misdirecting his anger. "She's government contracted and since Joyce isn't here, she's technically in charge. She just threatened Charlie to try and get us to stop working on reframing the sparks."

So many things ran though Ratchet's processor that moment that it looked as though he might glitch - but he vented and shook his head. "We can't leave them like that...but we can't risk Charlie either." He was getting angry again and only remembering what he had done before kept it in check.

"Where is Joyce anyway?" Knockout called from his corner, wincing at the sound of his own voice.

"China, still." Scatterblade shook his head. "Rex is checking on Charlie now."

"We should talk to her," Wheeljack suggested. "Maybe if she understood better..." he stopped at the almost identical glares he got from both medics. "What?"

"It was this same government that hunted us down in the first place." Ratchet growled with anger that was more fit to Sunstreaker than to his normal grouchy self.

"She probably doesn't consider us living anyway...just independently walking towers of destruction that they're glitching over not being able to control." Knockout groaned at his own rant. Why did his voice have to be so painful?

Scatterblade shook his head. "We're trapped. Again. We have to be ready to defend ourselves," he concluded.

"Guess we need to focus on the already functional, get everyone as up to code as we can before we lose the chance." Ratchet looked over the frames still waiting for finishing touches and sparks. "We will find a way," he said determinedly.

"Good luck getting that lot in here," Knockout grumbled, thinking of the bots he had hardly ever been able to pin down long enough for emergency repairs, not to mention the one he had yet to get his hands on.

"We will need to make a list, most damaged to least. Leave getting them in here to me." Ratchet was well versed in difficult patients and was prepared to use a little of his new found strength to enforce needed repairs.

"I can help with that," Scatterblade said already throwing together names and listing the last times they'd had tune ups.

Ratchet nodded. "Perfect, who's first?"

"Illusory," Knockout piped up. "Her or Jazz...haven't been able to get so much as a scan on that one. Femme's..." he shrugged, not really knowing what to say. "You saw her."

"She needs rest and a thorough exam." Scatterblade almost felt like he had thrown her under the bus but he knew she needed it. "You know how Blurr can be. Just slowing him down enough was hard. Check in with Arcee. I know she'll be happy to see you," he suggested.

Ratchet filled in his own mental list as they spoke. "Okay, see if you can convince Illusory to come down here and we'll get started."

"Would just be easier to drop her into stasis when she's not looking." Knockout climbed back to his feet. He hurt like the Pit, but he was repaired and able, and Ratchet was right. They needed to do what could be done while they had the chance. "Where'd Blindside wander off to? He can help."

"He's still in stasis." Scatterblade pointed to where the pirate lay.

Knockout looked at the still mech as if he couldn't figure out why he would be in stasis, then nodded. "Right. Forgot about that." He rubbed his head again.

'Lu, will you come down to the medbay?' Scatterblade went over to Blindside's berth to have some privacy for the conversation.

'Why?' She asked nervously.

'Please, this doesn't have to be a struggle. Ratchet wants to get everyone up to code. If Tanya moves on her threat, we need to be ready,' Scatterblade tried not to let his frustration rise up.

'But...' she hesitated. 'What about Silverdust?' It was a lame excuse and even she knew it. 'The others could use some attention anyway...' she tried to stall. She knew she needed the work but she was so worked up right now.

'I can watch her. I'll be down here with you the entire time.'

'After I know Charlie is okay,' she tried again.

'Lu, Rex will let us know if anything is wrong.'

She searched for anything that would be good enough to put off what she knew needed to be done. She had a whole list of unworthy excuses that she was prepared to try, but stopped as she spotted Ghoststorm standing not too far away watching her. Suddenly she was less uncomfortable with the idea of being trapped in the medbay. 'Okay...we are on our way.' She hurried to the elevator with Silverdust in her arms. She really hated the way that mech looked at them.

Scatterblade vented in relief. "Lu's bringing Silver down, too," he told Ratchet.

"Good." Ratchet turned to prepare, talking Wheeljack through what he wanted the inventor to do before turning to Knockout. "You sure you're up to this?"

"What? Assisting? A half byte drone could do it, I think I'll be fine."

Scatterblade watched them carefully. Concerned that Knockout got hurt, worried that Ratchet should be resting and wondering what had driven Blindside into medical induced stasis.

Illusory came to the entrance of the medbay, Silverdust still in her arms.

Ratchet saw her and smiled warmly, remembering how badly she had disliked the medbay before - and knowing some of what he did of recent past, he knew he had to be gentle. "Come in," he encouraged.

The femme looked into the medbay, seeing the frame that must be Sunstreaker she tightened her hold on Silverdust. The sparkling squealed unhappily. Then she spotted Blindside and her spark sank a little. 'What happened to him?' She asked worriedly.

'He ran himself into the ground, so he's in stasis.'

'But...he will be okay, right?' By now Silverdust was wriggling out of her arms and ran into the room with happy greetings for everyone - then an impromptu game of one million questions with Wheeljack.

'Yeah, he just needs to rest.'

She vented softly and walked into the medbay.

"Very good," Ratchet encouraged, "now just come lay down and we'll get started."

She froze again as fresh fear rose up. 'It's Ratchet, I trust him,' she coached herself and came a little further.

Scatterblade moved over to her, offering physical reassurance.

"Maybe this could wait?" She asked hopefully.

"Illusory," Ratchet kept his voice even and soothing, "you know that won't make anything easier."

She nodded, but remained where she was.

Scatterblade eased his hand into hers and guided her to the berth. 'I'll be right here, the whole time.'

She nodded again, holding onto his hand tightly, thoughts spinning wildly in her processors. Finally growing too frustrated with the warring tides inside, the femme clamped down on all of it, shoving them away and walking to the table. She climbed on and laid down, ignoring the way her spark pulsed too quickly inside its chamber.

"Good," Ratchet was encouraged by her show of will.

Scatterblade did his best to help her sort emotions and pulled up a stool to sit beside her. She kept locking them down while Ratchet started working. He pulled armor plates off, exposing the damages and rough fixes that simply had to make do at the time. He clearly didn't like what he saw, but he said nothing about it. The longer he went, the harder it was for Illusory to keep her emotions locked down. She began to tremble as he got closer to her spark.

"I think its time for stasis." Ratchet moved to tap into the femme's systems. She flinched away from him hard.

Scatterblade rested a hand on her head. 'It's alright. You don't have to be afraid.' He reinforced the block, helping her hold it down.

Ratchet moved again, this time prepared for her to move. It didn't take long for her to slip into stasis, her spark was still pulsing quickly but began to settle.

"This will be a while," Ratchet told Scatterblade.

"Silverdust's busy," he chuckled as he turned his head to watch her. "That's really all I'm worried about right now."

"Alright." The two medics got to work, Knockout found the focus easier than trying to take in everything around him. Ratchet got to work on the coding that had become so jumbled, he half wondered that the femme had been able to fuel herself. "What a mess..." he grumbled.

Scatterblade fidgeted, Illusory's emotions pulling his own to the surface. He was still having a hard time with how violent he had been with her, during sparkshock. Primus, how couldn't he have seen that? And how long had it been happening? Since she gave up, after he said it was okay? Primus, he was an idiot.

"You might as well go stretch your legs," Ratchet said after a while. "It might calm you down some." He tried not to sound irritated, but it came out more as an order than a recommendation.

Silverdust was entirely occupied by Wheeljack and some scrap pieces they were putting together in no real order. Scatterblade tried not to vent audibly, irritated that his emotions were shining through. He nodded and stood.

Ratchet paused his work long enough to look at Scatterblade. "She will be here when you get back."

"Okay."

Rex was nearly frantic by the time the elevator stopped. He had gone straight to their room to look for Charlie. It was empty, the door to the bedroom ajar. His heart sank as he ran to the door shoving it open to see beyond. Charlie sat on the bed, scribbling on a sheet of paper and an open book in her lap. She looked up at his sudden appearance. A big smile lit up her face. "Hey."

He stared at her, unbelieving that she was really there. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and went over to her.

"Hey," concern darkened her features. "What's wrong?"

He sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. "Tanya," he growled the woman's name, pulling Charlie closer to him. "She threatened to arrest you...us, if I didn't stop them from putting the sparks back in frames.

Charlie nearly recoiled. "Hey," she slid her arm up around his neck, "I'm alright."

"I thought she might have done something." He tucked his face into her hair. "I couldn't stand losing you."

"I'm okay," she giggled nervously. "Don't worry about her."

He stayed that way for a little longer before pulling away. "We've got to find a way to stop her."

"How? It's not like we're in the forest anymore," Charlie shrugged. "This is the safest place we've been."

"I don't know." He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "We don't have anything on our side here. She has power and the government on hers. Hiding in the forest...at least we were hidden."

"It was so much easier when the world didn't know," she said. Her countenance fell. "Do we run again? Where would we go?"

"I don't know. I wish there was a simple answer to any of this."

Charlie cupped his cheek with her hand. "So, let's not think about it. Not right now." She reached up and kissed him.

He gave easily, wanting the distraction. "Okay," he agreed kissing her back. It still lingered in the back of his thoughts, but for the moment, he was Charlie's. She pushed him down against the bed, sitting above him, covering his face in affection. His hands slid to her hips, abandoning himself to just enjoy her. She rested against his chest, her arms tucked beneath him.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed the top of her head and slid his arms up her back until he was holding her again.

"Everything will be okay," she said automatically, not sure if she believed it though she really wanted to.

He hummed contentedly. He knew that none of them could know that for sure, but as long as they kept going there would be hope. She nuzzled her lips into his neck, humming softly. He groaned, wrapping his arms tighter around her. She kissed his neck, long and warm kisses, moving up his chin to his mouth. He bit her lower lip gently as she kissed him, then kissed her again. She tensed at the new sensation but didn't pull away. She pressed her tongue against his lips, tilting her neck for better access and lips parted, welcoming and wanting. She explored his mouth as her hands moved through his hair. His hand slid down her back to the edge of her shirt, then slipped under the fabric to touch and massage the skin beneath while he sucked gently on her tongue. The touch sent warm waves up her back and she moaned into his kiss. She felt herself pulled forward, wanting to be closer. He moaned, his hips pressed into hers without thought. His hands continued to wander over her soft, warm skin. She gasped at the movement but her kiss held, and she started moving atop him, rocking up and down, using it to fuel the reach of her kiss. He moved with her, desire blooming like a hot fire between them. His hands found her chest and massaged and rubbed. Her tongue retreated and she moaned against his touch, supporting herself above him with heavy breath. He lifted her shirt over her head before returning to touching. She reveled in his touch, her hands gripping his shoulders while he kissed her neck, the hollow of her throat, licking here and there. She sighed, holding his face in her hands rubbing her thumb along his cheek. His hands moved to her hips again, pulling down against him. She rested against him, moving hungrily, kissing his face and lips. He rolled, taking her with him until she was pinned beneath him. He pulled his shirt off before turning hungry hands to her pants. There were far too many clothes in this equation for him. Charlie helped, arching her back and sliding the pants off, and kicked them to the floor. She took his face once more kissing it, trailing to his ear and sucking on the lobe. His hands ran the length of her body, loving every dip and curve along the way before one left her to see to his own pants. She moaned at his touch, her breath quickening, legs curling to rub against his legs. He pulled away just long enough to be rid of the clothes, then returned with one hand sliding between her legs and the other diving into her hair, kissing her gently despite the urgency in the rest of his body. Charlie moaned into the kiss, resting her left hand onto his. Icy chill after chill shot down her legs and she nearly squealed with excitement. His hand stroked her softly until she was writhing beneath him.

She groaned, "You- gonna keep teasing or-" she clenched her teeth. "Rex..."

Hearing his name spoken by her was wonderful, he considered tormenting her longer, but his own want was hot and driving. His hand moved away and he moved over her until they were lined up. He pushed against her slowly until they were flush against each other. Charlie seized as they came together, both of them hot and pulsating. She gripped his back and moved her hips up to meet him. He groaned at the sensation, holding them together for a few breaths before pulling almost all the way out then plunging forward again. He tried to keep the pace slow, almost torturous to drive their pleasure higher and higher. Charlie moved her legs against his before wrapping them around his waist, she pushed her head back moaning, gasping with the white hot feeling in her loins.

"Oh...Rex...I love you..."

"Love you, Charlie," he breathed heavily. "So...much," he grunted as his body drove the pace faster, harder.

Each drive was another burst of white hot through her limbs. It was mounting until suddenly she seized, the heat peaked and waves rolled over her. She cried out, it was painful in the best way. She moved against him, pulled away as he did and pushed toward him when he drove down. Her climax pushed him over the edge and with a few more hard thrusts he grunted as he climaxed deep inside her. His pace slowed to gentle motion. Charlie wrapped her arms around him, linking her fingers, her arms too weak to move without the assistance. She panted and rubbed her cheek against his. She half laughed half sighed, and kissed his cheek. He gasped for breath, settling on his elbows to keep his full weight off of her, his head tucked into her hair.

She snaked her arms around his neck. "Wow," she sighed, trying hard not to laugh. She just felt so good.

"Yeah," he agreed, amusement in his tone, "wow. That was wonderful."

"Yeah," she said dreamily. She kissed him once more. "We need to do this more. Great stress reliever."

"You'll get no argument from me." He hummed.

Charlie smiled and leaned back, resting on the pillow, arms above her head. "I'm glad we got to do this before the surgery."

"Surgery?" He tensed, leaning up so he could look at her. He wracked his brain trying to remember what she was due surgery for, then he remembered Ratchet saying her arm needed replaced. "Oh...I forgot about that." He sighed and kissed her again before rolling off of her to lay beside her.

"Yeah," Charlie groaned, "Not too thrilled about it. I mean, the first went fine, but the first time we were..." she shrugged, "safer."

"I'm sure this time will be okay too."

"Most likely." She shrugged. "I'm not too worried about it."

"Good." He snuggled close to her again, prepared to indulge in a comfortable nap.

She slid her arm under his head and pressed her cheek to his temple. He couldn't imagine a better moment as he closed his eyes and let sleep come over him. Charlie was beside him and safe; everything was okay for the moment.


	44. Chapter 44

Scattered Illusions: Shattered World

~*~ Chapter Forty-Four ~*~

One Year 6 Days

Coming online was always a chore. He never seemed to get it right. Either he was too groggy coming out of recharge or he had to charge right into a fight immediately. This time was groggy. Somewhere along the lines of too much high grade, groggy. He didn't sit up right away. His equilibrium was still spinning. Blindside turned his head to look at the rest of the medbay. He saw Ratchet and Knockout working. He sat up still looking about the room. The frame strapped to the berth seemed odd but he didn't say anything. Ratchet was so wound up in Illusory's twisted coding he was hardly aware of anything else. Knockout had tuned out the rest of the world in favor of easing his processor-ache with simple tasks. Wheeljack and Silverdust, however, were having a grand time at one of the nearby tables.

Wheeljack turned at the sound of booting systems and saw the groggy mech coming online. "Welcome to th' realm of th' functionin'. How ya feelin'?"

Blindside shuttered his optics. "Fine. Do I know you?"

Wheeljack pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope, Ah don't think so."

The pirate nodded with an unsure expression on his face. "Uh huh. Blindside," he said, swinging he feet to hang off the berth and pushing himself up. He wasn't steady enough to hop down just yet.

Wheeljack looked a little surprised as he realized he was being rude. "Oh! Wheeljack, sorry."

Blindside looked back up at the mech, something dawning on his faceplates. "I've heard of you. Welcome back," he said grimly.

"Thanks!" His good temper was fully intact. "Ah believe Ah was told you had a hand in that, so, thanks for that."

Blindside couldn't keep a frown from his face. "Yeah, a little."

Silverdust came to the edge of the table she and Wheeljack had been working at, holding up a thing that made no sense at all. "Look!" She announced proudly. "It blinks!" She pressed a button and lights flickered on the thing. She looked entirely pleased with it.

Blindside snorted and his frown gave way to a smile. "Little hog-monkey can build. Good job."

She grinned and giggled as she took the thing back to her spot to work on it some more.

"She does have a knack." Wheeljack boasted.

"You should definitely keep helping her."

"Help? I'm just an innocent bystander." He moved a piece closer to her while she was focused on something else.

Blindside shook his head. "Right." He hopped down and looked closer at her pile of junk. A piece caught his eye and he too pushed it into her grabbing range. Silverdust easily grabbed the suggestions without much notice to how they got there.

"How's Illusory?" Blindside asked glancing up at the medics working on her.

"As far as Ah gather from them," Wheeljack nodded toward the medics, "a total wreck. Which, of course means she'll be fine."

As if on cue Ratchet burst out with a string of unhappy threats to whomever had done 'this', whatever that was.

"Ratch, th' sparklin'," Wheeljack scolded, though it was with a grin. "Th' more he curses, th' less you have ta worry about."

"If you say so," Blindside said, almost reaching for Silverdust's audios to protect her innocent processor.

"Known th' old rusted gear long enough ta know." Wheeljack assured.

The pirate shook his head but didn't say more. "I'll see what I can do to help. Don't like just sitting around."

"Let me know if I can do anything for you," Wheeljack waved, continuing to subtly influence the sparkling's choices.

Blindside nodded before moving to join Ratchet and Knockout. "You mechs want an extra pair of hands?"

"Absolutely," Knockout answered with a touch of relief. "You know the drill...if it's broken - weld, patch, replace as needed. Replace old temporary repairs...so on and so on..."

"Not a problem," Blindside took the opposite side of the berth and got to work.

The group was left to their tasks for quite some time before the sound of another set of systems booting alerted to another mech coming online.

"Who's that?" Blindside asked, panic blooming in his chassis.

"Sunny..." Wheeljack said easily as he swept Silverdust up and took her to the far side of the medbay. "Stay here little bit." He went immediately over to the tethered mech and checked the straps.

"He shouldn't be coming online," Ratchet was busy pulling himself out of Illusory's systems without causing damage.

"Well, seems he has other plans, Ratch."

"Sunny?... Sunstreaker!?" Blindside stared at them. "Are you all insane?"

"Been called that once or twice." Wheeljack said still with his calm tone.

"Why is he coming online?" Ratchet was finally able to disconnect and rushed over.

"Beats me."

"No, seriously. Why is he even here! Didn't his twin-?" He couldn't finish, his processor still trying to cope with the fact that the berserker was here. Oh, he'd heard the stories and thanked Primus he had never run into the mech or his brother.

"What does it matter why?" Ratchet growled as he tried stalling the boot sequence. "Why are any of us here."

"You know," Wheeljack added, "if Sides is...gone," for the first time his happy tone wavered, "how are we going to convince Sunny not to deactivate everyone?"

"Good fragging question." Knockout was keeping his distance.

Blindside put Illusory's berth between himself and Sunstreaker; not at all too proud to use the femme as a shield.

Sunstreaker came online with a yell not unlike his energon driven battle cry, yet Ratchet knew it wasn't. "Get the highest grade energon you can find!" He barked the order as he started pulling open the mech's chest armor. "Sunstreaker, it's Ratchet. Listen to me and we'll get you through this." His voice was firm, loud enough to be heard over the frontliner's screaming.

Blindside moved against his better judgment, heading straight for the refiner. He knew he had some made, he just hadn't been able to cube any of it. Once he had it, he took it to the medic.

"Get it loaded," Ratchet continued his work, exposing the mech's spark.

Wheeljack took the energon from Blindside, not blaming the mech at all for not wanting to be too close. Sunstreaker was dangerous to bots he knew when he was out of control - a mech with a Decepticon signal was a target. "Thanks," he offered as he turned to set up the new fuel. Blindside retreated back to his spot behind Illusory.

Sunstreaker struggled against the straps holding him down. Ratchet managed to get the infusion tapped directly into his spark chamber despite his thrashing about.

"Where's Sideswipe?" Sunstreaker snarled, sounding very much like a wounded animal.

"Sunstreaker, I need you to focus on here and now. Calm down and focus." Ratchet did his best to get Sunstreaker to lock onto him and not look around.

Blindside sat down at the berth. He'd heard way too many stories to be comfortable just feet away from that raging mech.

"Tell me where Sideswipe is!" He shouted again, pulling at the straps.

With an ominous creaking sound, one of them gave. Ratchet lunged to pin the mech. "He's not here!" He hoped that might still Sunstreaker long enough for them to think.

Unfortunately it seemed to have the opposite effect as he shoved Ratchet and Wheeljack aside. He pushed himself up and broke the remaining straps. Ratchet rushed back to stop him. Sunstreaker saw Illusory's frame, still and in pieces, then spotted the two mechs hiding nearby. A low rumble shook from his engine as his optics narrowed.

"Sunny! No!" Ratchet knew what the mech had seen and knew this situation was getting very out of control, very quickly.

Blindside scrambled to guide him away from Illusory and find an electrical sticky bomb from subspace. Anything to slow this rampage down. Sunstreaker locked onto the movement, moving like liquid, shoving Ratchet out of his way.

"Jack! Where is that thing you had?" Knockout shouted as he ducked under the table.

"On it!" The inventor ran to retrieve the device he had made to stun the mech while Ratchet kept after the frontliner.

Blindside pulled what he was looking for from his subspace and for a split second hesitated. If he threw it, he could miss. 'Don't let me miss,' Blindside begged as he booked it for an unimportant corner, device in hand. Ratchet grabbed Sunstreaker's arm just long enough for the mech to toss him again. The medic cursed as he hit a wall, but got back to his feet. Sunstreaker refocused on his target, anger rolling off of him in waves.

"Hi, Sunny!" Silverdust had peeked from where she was hidden long enough to recognize Sunstreaker's spark signature and had come running to see one of her old friends.

Sunstreaker spun around at the hated name, ready to teach whoever it was that it was unacceptable. Spotting the sparkling he paused. His processors racing to catch up with the horror his spark screamed with at the thought of harming her. Wheeljack slipped as fast as he could across the floor to protect the little femme. Blindside paused, frozen in his kamikaze attempt at seeing Silverdust about to be trampled.

Silverdust leaned around Wheeljack's protective frame to look up at the seething mech. "Hi," she said again. "You changed too. Is everyone gonna change? Can I change too? I wanna be bigger!"

"Thought Ah told ya to stay put," Wheeljack scolded with a desperate but kind tone. "Sunny's not feeling like himself right now."

"Oh...is he sad? I was sad too when Sides went away," she pouted a little remembering how they had put Sideswipe under all those rocks and everyone was sad.

"Went away?" Sunstreaker sounded unsure, almost weak.

"Yeah," Ratchet admitted as he came between the mech and the sparkling. "He's gone."

Blindside relaxed some, vented hard to calm his heated systems, though his grip didn't lessen on the electrical bomb.

"He can't be gone," Sunstreaker growled, though now that ache in his spark made sense.

"He is. He deactivated helping the others. I wasn't there..." Ratchet's guilt was fierce but he bit it back. "Prowl said he was critically injured wile they were trying to get energon from one of the old bases."

"That's not possible..." he growled again.

"Your spark says otherwise, I can see it in my scans. Now, let me treat you."

He stood like a statue where he was.

Wheeljack got to his feet with Silverdust in his arms. He gently sat her beside Illusory and went to help Ratchet move the stunned mech back to the table.

"It's okay to be sad," Silverdust piped up helpfully, "but you gotta keep going. That's what everyone says."

Blindside wanted to silence the little femme, keep her from making this worse. But it looked like she'd had a better grip on the situation than anyone else. Sunstreaker moved slowly, resisting even as both mechs pushed against him. He was glaring at the sparkling. How was he supposed to keep going? Sideswipe was gone. His spark hurt and his processor was sluggish. None of this made any sense. Finally they got him on the table and hooked up again.

"Sunny? Ya with us?" Wheeljack asked while Ratchet scanned for damage.

"Don't call me that." The warning was automatic and without bite, but it was a response at least.

"He's in full sparkshock now." Ratchet vented, not knowing if this was a blessing or a curse.

Blindside finally put the weapon away and moved to help Ratchet. As much as he didn't like what he knew of Sunstreaker, letting him suffer wasn't a plan. Still, he stayed out of the frontliner's sight as much as possible. Sunstreaker was mostly placid, too focused on his own internal issues to pay attention to anything around him, but every time his scanners ran and pinged back with Decepticon signatures his engine would rev and his frame would go tense for a few kliks before relaxing again.

Knockout warily got back to work on Illusory, Wheeljack joining him after setting Silverdust on a nearby table with her project to entertain her. The sparkling was less interested in her project and more on Sunstreaker. She knew something was wrong but didn't understand what or how it was going to be fixed. The mood in the med bay was all over grim and tense.

::This was a bad idea,:: Blindside mumbled to Knockout.

::Add it to the long list of bad ideas...:: The medic couldn't argue. What had he been thinking? ::Should have let that one go.::

::He's going to be lost for the rest of his life. However long that is now.:: Blindside shook his head at them all.

::It seemed worth the effort at the time.::

::Yeah, well...::

Ghoststorm had really just gone to the roof to get out of the building and feel the air against his frame, the fact that Scatterblade happened to be there was just a bonus. The mech was looking out across the Chicago skyline. He couldn't help trying to compare it to home, but the only thing he could picture was the beach, their home, the one he built. Scatterblade vented in frustration but sat still trying to recall the surf and the gulls.

"It's almost a perfect view, isn't it?" Ghoststorm said as he came to the edge of the roof, no fear of falling keeping him from the very edge.

Scatterblade flinched and turned, jumping to his feet. He stared blindly at the mech for several kliks then relaxed his stance. "What?"

"This view," he waved his hand over the exposed skyline. "It's almost perfect. Its a lot like one of those quiet little cities back home." He almost sounded wistful.

Scatterblade nodded slowly, coming back from the start. "Yeah. A little."

"Have to say, though; the skies here are way more open."

Scatterblade shrugged, the tires on his shoulders bobbed. "I wouldn't know."

Ghoststorm glanced at him and grunted. "Right, grounder. Shame."

"Yeah," Scatterblade shook his head. "Never did like flying."

"Oh? Why not?" He turned to face Scatterblade, confusion clear on his face. How could anyone not like flying?

"I was never a very good pilot," he shook his head.

"Huh," he shook his head. "Well, there's nothing like it." He shrugged. "So what chased you up here?"

"Stress," Scatterblade said simply.

"Seems to be a lot of that around here. That femme...uh," he struggled to find some descriptive word that wouldn't sound offensive, "the shy one. She's your mate, right?"

Scatterblade tensed. He hadn't wanted to advertise that, but it wasn't like the mech wasn't going to find out, the way he kept huddled with her. "Yes," he said slowly.

"Good." He smiled. "There's not too many intact familial units these orns. Cute sparkling too. She's pretty active, can't be even a vorn old yet, right?"

Scatterblade nodded. "She can be a hand full," he said trying to ease the tension.

"Sure seems that way, but then I guess that's just how sparklings are." He sounded friendly, keeping his tone very non-threatening. Everything would be easier if they trusted him.

"She's been amazing through all of this. Though I think Lu has pretty much shielded her from it all," Scatterblade said with some pride.

"Really?" He had a rather impressed expression. "She sure didn't seem to have it all together herself...no offense!" He backtracked hastily.

Scatterblade shrugged, giving him that. "Lu's been through the Pit. But Silver's been our grounding force."

"Seems like everyone has. I can't imagine what all this had to be like with a sparkling to protect. They all keep an optic on you guys, huh?"

Scatterblade nodded, easing back to the gravel now that his spark wasn't running like mad. "It feels like one big extended family," he grinned, "A little on the dysfunctional side but I'm not complaining."

Ghoststorm laughed. "I like that; dysfunctional family. That's a good one." He vented and shook his head. "Prowl, that's his designation, right? He seemed to imply that a bot's past doesn't matter here, that true? You just...trust everybody?" He sounded skeptical, like that was just too difficult to believe.

"We start out that way. Each of us has proven we want to be here. Either they've saved our afts one or two times or we've saved theirs. We've got everyone here, Con, Bot and Neutral. And even then it's just... us."

"Seems so strange." He shrugged again. "So, this is it, huh? Just...just, live? There's no plan?"

"Where would we go?" Scatterblade asked, not expecting an answer. "There isn't a soul on this planet that wants us here. They want our frames melted down for slag," he sagged some, realizing he hadn't actually said that out loud before. Sure he'd figured the odds, the quid pro quo, but vocalizing them made it all the more grim.

"There could be a ship, we could..." He vented, "I don't know where I was going with that."

Scatterblade glanced up at him, surprised. "Another ship? You have got to be kidding me. I'm done with ships and trying to leave. I'd never be able to live with myself if we did."

Ghoststorm was honestly surprised by his response. "What? Why?"

"We've made friends here - family. I couldn't just leave Charlie or Rex, Vance, Myra..."

"Humans?" He sounded horrified by the notion that humans could be more than pests. Violent, dangerous pests. "Look what they've done! Those insects deactivated my trine..." He realized his temper was showing and bit off his words, turning away from Scatterblade to regain his composure. "Sorry, didn't mean to yell."

"It's alright. Their crimes are a long list," Scatterblade acknowledged, solemnly.

"Yet you would stay? For a handful of...less wretched bugs?" His wings twitched, his anger refusing to fade.

Scatterblade frowned, his offense rising. "They're different and I don't have to defend them to you."

"No, I suppose you don't," he grumbled, wings flicking again before he transformed and took off. The only place for his current anger was the sky.

Scatterblade shook his head and vented. He didn't want to be rude...oh, frag it. Yeah, he wanted to be rude. He wanted to defend his family even if it came to blows. Letting off the stress and steam would've been really nice, but going toe to toe with a flier probably wasn't a good idea. He had to avoid the medbay, not earn a berth next to Illusory and Blindside. Thinking again of his friend, he cycled cold air into his vents. The pirate wasn't resting and it bothered him. Why was he being so stubborn?

"Hey, mech." Jazz called as he came onto the roof. "Ya seen Ghoststorm? Thought he came up here."

"Just missed him, actually. He took off." Scatterblade stood to shake the tension away.

"Took off?" Jazz listened to the tell tale sound of jet engines and nodded. "Wondered how long it would be before he got too claustrophobic."

"Antsy?" Scatterblade grinned some.

He shrugged. "Fliers tend ta prefer open skies. Especially when they're feelin' emotional." He grinned at Scatterblade like there was some secret joke he was laughing at but not sharing. "He say anythin'?"

Scatterblade grinned though he looked a tad confused. "He seemed interested about Silver and Lu."

"Yeah?" He thought about that for a little bit but didn't comment on it. "Ratchet kicked ya outta th' medbay, huh?" He came to stand beside Scatterblade, optics to the skies.

The mech laughed. "That makes it sound like I did something wrong. I got Lu to comply to getting work done," he pointed out.

"Wow!" He said with mock shock. "Turbofoxes must be flyin' somewhere out there!" He nudged Scatterblade good-naturedly. "That's good though. Femme needed it."

He laughed. "She'll be okay," he said, more to reassure himself than anything.

"Course she will. Made it this far, she's tough an' Ratch's good." He grinned again. "Still good ta have him back."

"I'm still _amazed_ he's back. I thought we'd lost them all."

"Yeah, meh too. Guess it's just time we had some good luck."

"Let's not jinx ourselves," Scatterblade shook his head. "We still have Sunstreaker to figure out."

Jazz's focus went from sky to ground. "Yeah. Ah did say 'some'. Don't know what we're gonna do with him."

"I don't want to think I made mistake but..." Scatterblade cut himself off.

"What other choice was there?" He knew the other choice well enough, but he wasn't going to suggest it would have been the better option. "He could pull through."

"I know he's strong enough, but without Sides?" Scatterblade was skeptical, but still refused to regret it.

"Its really hard ta say with Sunny." He vented. "We'll just have ta wait an' see."

Scatterblade vented shortly. "We're all stuck in this waiting game; waiting on repairs, waiting on recovery, waiting to get kicked out..." Scatterblade couldn't pin where this foul mood was coming from. Whether it was Ghoststorm or something else, he couldn't figure.

"Yep. But at least we're still around ta wait."

Scatterblade vented again, "Can you not be positive for, maybe, two kliks?" The mech then sat stunned. "Sorry. I- I didn't mean-" he vented again, "Sorry."

Jazz laughed. "Nah, it's okay. An' no, Ah wont stop bein' positive. If Ah did that, pretty sure no one would like meh much. Ah don't think Ah'd like muhself much either."

Scatterblade gave a half chuckle. "Fine."

"What's buggin' ya? Well, other than the obvious."

"I don't know," he said with a shrug.

"Somethin' ya can't figure out or ya don't know what it is that's buggin' ya?" He pushed.

Scatterblade vented again, giving up. You can't get needled by Jazz and not spill something. "I'm worried about Lu, Silver, Charlie, Rex- Tanya is threatening her because we're putting sparks back in frames. It's fragging infuriating." His frame rattled.

"Yeah, that human femme is uh problem." His tone was none too kind. "But we'd all fight fer Charlie an' Rex. Either she's playin' power games cause she knows we're all on edge, tired, an' frustrated, or she has seriously underestimated us an' thinks she could could do it." He vented, a dark warning in the sound of it that never quite made a noise. "Or she's just dumb."

"I do _not_ want to find out. Not with how weak we are right now."

"We'll figure it out. Right now we'll focus on what we got goin', get everyone put together an' come up with uh plan. Bet Prowler's already got somethin' workin'."

"I really hope so." Scatterblade looked out across the city-scape.

"Meh too." He looked back up at the sky. "Guess Ghoststorm ain't comin' back anytime soon. Ah'm headin' in. Try not ta worry about it all too much, focus on th' little things right now."

Scatterblade nodded, "Yeah. I'll try that."

Jazz clapped him on the shoulder before going back into the building. Scatterblade sat on the roof, watching the setting sun with a frown.


	45. Chapter 45

Scattered Illusions: Shattered World

~*~ Chapter Forty-Five ~*~

One Year 7 Days

It was quite some time after the sun had vanished before Knockout commed Scatterblade. ::We're going to bring your femme online. You should probably be here.:: He sounded very edgy and tired.

::I'm coming,:: Scatterblade pushed to his feet and hurried to the elevator. When the doors opened to the medbay, he stepped through, seeking out Illusory's berth. The femme was silver - finally all of her armor matching and repaired. The visor Jazz had loaned her was set aside, no longer needed. Knockout stood with the table still between him and Sunstreaker, watching the mech warily. Wheeljack was off working on something new, Silverdust tucked comfortably in one arm as the little femme napped. Ratchet was standing near Illusory's head, waiting for Scatterblade before he began the boot sequence.

"It will hopefully go slowly enough for all of her input to register before she's fully aware. It will help with the disorientation she's going to feel. Her reaction is what concerns us. From what I've been told, she does not tend to come online calmly."

"Not recently," Scatterblade confirmed with a frown.

"Well, hopefully this will help." He began the sequence, restricting quick boots, back logs, and the femme's dangerous rapid download system. She needed to be fully online for those. "Let me know when she becomes aware."

Scatterblade felt out gingerly across their bond as he took her hand. 'Lu.'

The femme's spark hummed with wary contentment as the basic systems came up, but as sensory data began to feed through her frame, it turned to cold fear.

'Lu, you're safe. I promise.' He pulled her presence toward his, letting relief and joy pour across it.

'What's going on?' She asked with no small amount of discomfort. Her disorientation spilled across their bond as sensors lit up for the first time since being repaired or replaced. It was fire and ice, falling and being crushed while spinning entirely out of control. Scatterblade clutched the table with his free hand to keep from being thrown around with her.

'You've had repairs. Take it slowly. I'm right here with you.'

'I don't understand...' holding onto Scatterblade's presence was helping, giving her a center of focus.

Coding was reading as it should, her processor started running correctly, all was looking well.

'You're still booting up, let it catch up to you.'

'I will try.' As each new system started running, new disorientation would rise, but the others were fading. Everything was starting to come together.

'Slowly. Atta' girl,' Scatterblade finally started smiling.

'I feel..okay,' she said finally. Her frame settled as tension left.

"She's responding," Scatterblade said relief clear and strong.

Blindside joined the group at the berth, keeping the couple between himself and Sunstreaker. "That's good news."

"Can you hear me?" Scatterblade asked her aloud.

'Yes,' she answered, her vocalizer not responding yet.

"Excellent. Everything is reading clean and clear." Ratchet was pleased with the results to say the very least. "There shouldn't be much, if any, lasting damage from the twisted coding."

Illusory's optics came online and she gasped. She could see clearly again. Giddy relief flashed like fire through her.

Scatterblade smiled down at her. "Hi."

"Hi," she smiled up at him.

"Okay," Ratchet disconnected and stepped back. "Take it slow and easy for a while. It will take some time for everything to settle in. Contact me with any issues."

Scatterblade helped her sit up.

Blindside nodded, a bit of a grin on his face too. "Glad to see you in one piece."

She smiled again, drunk with relief from the damages. "Thank you. For everything you have done, that all of you have done." She slid her legs off the table and started to stand when she noticed the quiet frame not too far away. She stared at Sunstreaker, confused.

"What's wrong?" Ratchet was instantly concerned.

"Nothing, I am fine." She shrugged off the strange sense she had felt. "My scanners probably just need time to adjust."

Scatterblade helped her to her feet. "No need to over do it."

She stood, taking a moment for her balance to come to her, but then felt confident on her feet.

Wheeljack came over grinning madly. "Hey, Lu! Lookin' good."

"Thank you." She reached for her sparkling. Wheeljack handed the recharging femme over carefully, subtly making sure Illusory had her before letting go.

Scatterblade stood with her, keeping watch over both femmes.

"Come back in the morning for rations. I'm not letting you guys go empty again," Blindside said.

Scatterblade nodded. Illusory looked over Sunstreaker again, the mech was moaning quietly. She was sad for him, imagining the pain he had to be going through. It had been bad enough when she hadn't been able to sense her mate, she couldn't imagine how much worse it would have been if he had actually deactivated. Her spark ached for him and it reverberated across their bond. Scatterblade glanced back at the mech before moving toward the elevator. Illusory leaned into her mate, enjoying his closeness without the constant sense of falling apart looming.

Blindside turned to the two medics once the bonded pair were gone. "Okay. You're finished. Go recharge."

Knockout waved, more than ready to indulge in some much needed recharge. Ratchet hesitated, turning to Sunstreaker to scan the mech one more time.

"Go on Ratchet, Blindside's right. You need recharge an' Ah can keep an optic on Sunny." Wheeljack pushed the medic away from their remaining patient.

"I'll be getting some cubes refilled if you need me," Blindside said to Wheeljack. 'Don't need me', lingered in the air.

"Sure thing. Lemme know if ya need anything." Wheeljack kept at Ratchet until the medic had laid down and engaged his recharge cycle.

Blindside kept busy, starting with replenishing the high grade they'd wasted...used to help Sunstreaker. He shook his head to clear it. There wasn't time to worry about him. Maybe he would just die and they could all mourn and move on. Was he being harsh? He didn't think so, but voicing his thoughts was the last thing he wanted to do. It got no where last time he brought it up. All these Autobots and their sense of duty and love of will.

Wheeljack tinkered here and there, keeping generally busy but never too far away. It wasn't more than ten breems before Ratchet was trying to get up again. Wheeljack let him get up and look over Sunstreaker, mostly because he knew it helped soothe the medic to do his job, but also because if the medic was busy, he wouldn't notice he had put something in the cube of energon he was handing over. More of old habit than actual thought or want, Ratchet took it and started to drink.

"His spark seems a little stronger," Ratchet noted.

"That's great! So, just keep doin' what we're doin', right?"

"Yeah." He finished the energon and set the cube aside. Wheeljack just waited calmly. Blindside watched the two mechs carefully, intrigued by Wheeljack's tactic. Ratchet stood up straight, realizing something was off. He turned angrily to face Wheeljack.

"You didn't!"

Wheeljack shrugged but his grin was still happily in place.

"Wheeljack! What the slag were you thinking? You...you're...you..." The medic stumbled slightly.

"Keep an optic on Sunny, more energon as needed, an' don't bother ya cause ya need yer recharge?" He slid under Ratchet's arm to support the drugged mech. "You got it."

Blindside watched gaping and amused. He waved to the medic. "Good night, Ratchet."

Ratchet attempted a glare at the other mech, but failed miserably as Wheeljack all but slung the medic back onto his berth.

"Do anything ta help ya Ratchet, ya know that." He made sure the medic was comfortable before returning to his tinkering as though nothing at all had happened.

"I'll be handling my own energon from now on," Blindside said then turned back to the refiner. Wheeljack just laughed. He always did enjoy a challenge. Blindside rolled his optics and removed a full cube of energon.

"He taught me that trick. Said it was fer th' most stubborn patients." He laughed again. "He's always been th' most stubborn of 'em all." He wandered over to Blindside, looking at the refiner with curious optics.

Blindside moved the full cube to their store in the corner of the room. "Hands where I can see 'em," Blindside warned with a grin.

He held up his hands innocently. "No worries here," he smiled. "Pretty handy work you've done here."

The mech nodded, more focused on fine tuning a few pieces. "Gotta do my part."

"Good part ta do. Wouldn't get far without fuel." He finished looking over the refiner with a nod, then went back to his work table.

"So, it's a good thing you're here, too," Blindside attempted at sounding genuinely interested in conversation.

Wheeljack laughed good-naturedly. "Some may think less so. But that's okay, Ah'm happy ta be here anyway."

"Why?" Blindside asked cautiously. "Everyone seems glad you're back."

"Oh, Ah might have had an invention or fifteen blow up and cause some damage."

"Right," Blindside said slowly, the things he had heard of Wheeljack coming back to him. He shifted some, partly to get at a troublesome piece and partly to inch away from the accident prone mech. Wheeljack grinned to himself - his destructive reputation didn't bother him at all. As a matter of fact it amused him more than anything. Blindside was silent for a moment, still unsure what to talk about. So much for his attempt to feign conversation.

Wheeljack moved some things around, his hands each doing something different as his processor split motor functions and thoughts. "What's th' highest grade ya can get from that?" He asked seemingly out of the blue.

"Um," Blindside took a moment to average out what they'd made so far. "Not the best, but decent enough."

He nodded, still busy but now looking back at the refiner with consideration. "We'll need ta get some flier grade if Ghoststorm's gonna stick around. Or if we find any others. It'd help with th' other sparks too. And Sunny." He nodded as though making a decision, then held up one of the things he had been making. To the naked optic it didn't seem like anything special, but he seemed pleased with it anyway as he made a few adjustments and continued working. "Medical grade too," he added as an after thought.

Blindside nodded, "It's gonna take time, so we'll worry about special orders later. Though, I am working medical grade on the side. Hoping Ratchet can tweak it later."

"That's a good idea...focus on whats important now." He looked over his second device the same as he had the first, then continued.

"What are you doing?" Blindside joined the mech at his table, craning his neck to see past him.

"Ah am..." he went quiet for a moment as he focused on the thing he was working on. "Well, we don't have any equipment here. Not really, just the human manufacturing equipment which is great for building frames. We coulda' used this stuff some vorns back. Can ya imagine what we coulda' done with it?" He zoned out for a moment more as more images raced through his processor. "But it's th' finer things ya miss - monitors and tools, diagnostic machines that can read systems th' right way...scans are great, but details...it's the details..." he rambled before falling silent again.

Blindside nodded, following what he knew and not bothering with the stream of consciousness. "Do you want some help?"

"If ya don't mind th' hazard." He stopped long enough to smirk at Blindside. "And assuming yer done with what yer doin'; Ah wouldn't mind another pair of hands."

"It'll be a few breems to finish the cube and then it's just waiting for the next one to fill. Right now I can only prep two at a time. Gotta figure out a better system for that," Blindside said eagerly.

"We could probably work out a conveyor system. Wouldn't be too much trouble...up the output, increase load zone." He shook his head slightly and refocused on the current task at hand.

"I didn't think of that," Blindside nodded, impressed. Once he had the refiner reset again, he joined Wheeljack again to aid the inventor.

It didn't take long for Wheeljack to get Blindside completely engrossed in his project - which turned out to be several projects all at different stages of completion. Blindside had a bit more focus and he worked exclusively on one, nudging Wheeljack to make sure he was still doing it right, before moving on to the next. Time passed without much note for the inventor; so involved with creating and guiding Blindside when he needed it. He was at his happiest like this and nothing could ruin his mood. Well, almost nothing.

Sunstreaker snarled angrily as he shoved himself into a sitting position, one hand gripping his chest plating as if he meant to tear it off.

"Sunny?" Wheeljack abandoned his work, sliding around the table until he was between the frontliner and Blindside.

Blindside scrambled back, hand immediately seeking his blaster."What's th' matter?"

The mech growled something that sounded like it could have been words but weren't clear enough to understand. He curled into himself, tugging at his chestplate.

"Is it yer spark?" Wheeljack approached carefully, knowing the wrong move could mean bad news.

"What do you think!" Sunstreaker snapped, his head snapping so he could see the mech asking stupid questions. He spotted Blindside and growled again. "What's a 'Con doing here?" His tone was dark, threatening, but his frame was anything but. He trembled, fans racing to dispel heat, his optics were dim with shock and pain.

"It's okay Sunny, things are...well, they're different now. Blindside's helpin' out around here. No need ta worry."

"He's the one that should be worried," Sunstreaker warned, though there would clearly be no follow through.

"Well, lucky you. I am," Blindside snarked, careful to keep his distance.

"Good," the satisfaction in his voice was nearly drown out by the almost desperate grunt that came with it.

"Come on Sunny, Ah know ya don't feel great. Lay down, Ah'll get ya some more energon."

For the briefest of moments, Sunstreaker's fury-pale blue optics darkened to a less threatening azure blue and he looked entirely confused by everything around him, but the moment passed and with another pained snarl he tried pulling at his chestplate again.

"Sunny, stop." Wheeljack grabbed the mech's had away from his chestplate and forced him back against the table. It was shocking how easy it was to move the frontliner and Wheeljack was worried. "Stay put. Ah'm gonna get energon for ya. Yer tired an' hurtin', that's all." He moved to do as he said, but kept one optic always on the frontliner.

"I got it," Blindside said, already to the refiner and picking up a high grade cube.

"Thanks," Wheeljack made sure he was always between Sunstreaker and Blindside; even though it seemed Sunstreaker wasn't able to do more than glare and growl, he didn't want to take chances.

"No," Sunstreaker tried to argue.

"It's fine Sunny, no poison, Ah promise. Ratch, me, Lu, Blade, even little Silver have all had some and we're still goin'."

Blindside kept down the temptation to feed the paranoia, but poking the frontliner with a stick wasn't on his to do list. Wheeljack took the cube once Blindside was close enough, not daring to let him within reach of the frontliner. He started to set it up, but Sunstreaker - weak as he was - still grabbed his arm.

"No!" He growled.

Wheeljack's whole frame sagged with disappointment. Why did things have to be so complicated all the time? "Look," he carefully lifted the cube to his mouth and took a respectable sip. He even stood and waited several kliks to show he wasn't going to drop dead before attempting to put the fuel into the infusion system. Sunstreaker had been alarmed that Wheeljack didn't even seem the slightest bit worried, but gave to Wheeljack's insistence. What did it matter anyway? Sideswipe was gone. Blindside watched the mech with a frown. Everything in him screamed that this was wrong. Sunstreaker was a danger to them; he could have hurt Silverdust, badly. War turned survival had no place for a berserker.

"There. You'll be on yer feet before ya know it." He patted Sunstreaker's shoulder gently. The mech just huffed unhappily and stared at the ceiling as if it were offensive, one hand returned to his chestplate but he didn't start pulling again. Blindside turned again to the refiner, his drive to build gone. He didn't have to focus with refilling energon cubes, just fill, wait, test, repeat. Wheeljack vented quietly and returned to his work table in search of his good mood. Blindside started playing music again, eager to fill the silence.


	46. Chapter 46

Scattered Illusions: Shattered World

~*~ Chapter Forty-Six ~*~

One Year 8 Days

Sidestep lay stretched out in front of the door, deep in contented recharge as he had been since he had located the two humans. He had gotten a brief 'do not disturb' from Ratchet when he had intended to contact Illusory, so had decided to rest instead. So long as he was there, the humans would not be bothered - and even though he mostly didn't care for them, they were a part of his new team and Silverdust liked them, so he would protect them.

Charlie rolled over and slid her left arm over Rex's chest, her right tucked to her chest. Rex sighed happily, drawing his hand across her back gently.

"Hi," she smiled, nuzzling into his chest, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Hi," he hummed back.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Best I've had in some time," he admitted. "What about you?"

"Really well." She couldn't stop smiling.

"Good." He leaned his cheek against her head, happy to stay where they were for a while longer.

She wrapped her legs around his; rubbed her feet along his legs.

"We should probably go tell everyone that you're okay," he remembered the distressed looks on Illusory and Scatterblade's faces.

Charlie sighed, a little disappointed but already sitting up. "Yeah."

"I would rather stay right here..." he followed her up, hugging her one more time before moving away, "but I think I've kept you to myself long enough."

"We can always come back up. We could watch a few more movies. Just relax," Charlie stood and stretched, before bending to gather her clothes.

He groaned with appreciation at the image of her bare form moving, making himself move to get his own clothes, but took his time about it.

Charlie dressed and sat, legs crossed beneath her on the bed, watching Rex with an ever present smile.

Once he was fully clothed again he offered her his hand. "Shall we then?"

"Yes," she took his hand with all the ceremony of a queen, "we shall."

He smiled as he helped her up. They went together to the door and Rex opened it with some flourish, then froze.

"What?" Charlie looked up at him before seeing past him. Then her face turned beat red. "Sidestep...?"

The quadruped lifted his head lazily to look at them over his back. "I was beginning to think you were never coming out." He rumbled.

"Why are you here?" Rex asked, stunned to see the mech in the human area; he thought he hated them.

"As a favor." Sidestep said with a very cat-like yawn.

"How...long were you out here?" Charlie stuttered.

"A while," he purred, enjoying their clear discomfort.

Charlie continued to turn a deeper shade of red. "Right," she laughed nervously.

"I suppose now that I have verified that you are both safe, I will go back downstairs." He stood and stretched, a strange dogish smile on his face.

"Safe. Yeah, we are safe..." Rex felt a little guilty for not telling the others sooner.

"Okay, let's head downstairs," Charlie wanted to push past the 'bot and hide her embarrassment.

Sidestep let them pass, he had no intention of using the too-small-for-his-comfort elevator. He had found his own way up and would return the same way.

Rex followed Charlie, glancing back as Sidestep turned another direction. She entered the elevator, her right hand on her stomach, though her face didn't show any discomfort.

"You okay?" Rex's concern over Sidestep vanished. "Not getting sick are you?"

"Hmm?" her eyes refocused on him and she smiled. "No, I'm fine."

"You sure," he looked her over quickly as the elevator made its way down to the bay. She hadn't looked ill before, and sure didn't look ill now.

"Yeah," she moved her hand. She looked down at her waist. "Just itches a little."

"Okay."

For some reason that didn't ease his concern, but he decided to keep it to himself. He let Charlie leave the elevator first as the doors opened, following behind. She reached back for his hand, seeking that extra comfort. He took it quickly, looking around for those that would have been most concerned; although he was sure that Sidestep had already delivered the news.

The bay seemed pretty empty, at least of Wreckers. Scatterblade occupied the corner, leaning against the wall, deep in recharge. Illusory had taken to wandering, she had received a delayed message from Sidestep telling her that 'her humans' were safe so had little reason to worry. Being able to see clearly and with her coding no longer generating senseless fear and paranoia, she felt far more at ease. The fact that Ghoststorm was nowhere to be seen also helped. Silverdust had tucked in beside Scatterblade and was happily recharging with him

Sidestep was already nearby, looking as though he had just checked up on the young femme.

"Does he teleport?" Rex asked, stunned.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Charlie whispered back. "I don't want to wake him."

"Yeah, probably shouldn't." He agreed then searched for Prowl.

Charlie followed him, losing the pep in her step the longer they searched. "Maybe Ratchet has seen him."

"Yeah, maybe." Everything looked fine and normal, but something felt off. He found it a bit strange that Illusory wasn't hiding in a corner somewhere, but since Scatterblade seemed at ease enough to recharge there must not be any problem there. The fact that Prowl was nowhere to be seen wasn't all together out of place either, it just...felt odd. "Lets go see." Charlie nodded, weary already from the trekking about.

Rex led the way back to the elevator, pressing the key to get them where they wanted to go. When they entered the medbay, Charlie frowned. Ratchet was lying on a berth. So much for asking him. She spotted Wheeljack and Blindside working at a table together.

"Hey guys, what's going on here?" Rex did a quick head count and came up with one more than he thought there had been. He looked at the silent mech laying on a table with an infusion set up. He didn't dare ask who he was, by the glare he was giving the ceiling he was not in a good mood.

Blindside looked up from the table. "Rex," he came around to see the two humans. "Finally convinced them to take it easy. To be fair Knockout was easy."

Rex gave a knowing grin. He had known Ratchet, had heard about the mech's infamous stubbornness. "That's good." He looked around again, stopping pointedly at the new mech before moving on. "Seen Prowl?"

"Not recently," Blindside shrugged, "not since he woke up the first time." He jerked his thumb back at the occupied berth.

"Yeah, who is he?" Rex tried to keep his tone unconcerned and curious.

Blindside vented shortly. "Sunstreaker."

Charlie gasped, quickly covering her mouth. Tears started to build behind her eyes.

"I thought..." Rex was stunned to say the least. Sunstreaker? Of all the sparks they could have found. "Does he know?" Most knew that Sideswipe was Sunstreaker's brother, few that weren't Cybertronian knew they were twins - even less knew they were spark-split twins. Rex was not one of the few.

"Yes, I slagging know!" He growled fist thumping against the table. "I'm also not deaf."

Rex cringed at the anger in the mech's tone. He remembered the stories they told about the less friendly mech - how his brother was the one to keep him under control. What were they going to do with this wild card loose? Tanya would have more fodder for her accusations.

Charlie flinched at his anger. "I'm so sorry, Sunstreaker."

"Don't be." His tone was still harsh, but the edge was gone. The woman shook her head, not caring he wasn't looking.

"Yeah, so. No, it's been a while since I saw Prowl," Blindside said turning back to Wheeljack's table.

"Any idea where he might have gone?" Something was off, he was sure of it. Or it could just be the chills he was feeling run down his spine thinking of one of the more dangerous mechs he knew of laying on the table not far away.

"He's usually in his office," Wheeljack offered helpfully, too engrossed in what he was doing to remember where they were.

"Not exactly helpful," Rex said as he watched the inventor examine his current work.

"Oh?" He paused long enough to look at the two humans, then shrugged. "Jazz would be th' next best at finding him if he isn't in his office."

Charlie nodded, "Thanks, 'Jack." She couldn't tear her eyes from Sunstreaker, freshly blooming sadness washed over her.

Rex wrapped an arm around her, supporting and guiding her away. "Come on, let's go." He waved to the others. "Thanks, we'll see you later."

Blindside lifted his hand in farewell.

Charlie kept shaking her head slowly in the elevator. "How is that even possible?" She murmured.

"What?" Rex was a little distracted with his own thoughts, but he tried to focus on Charlie for the moment.

"Sides...right before he-" she took a breath to steady herself, almost annoyed at her emotion, "-he said, 'Sunny's waiting for me.' If Sunstreaker was still here, then what was he talking about?"

"Who can say..." It was an odd thing to think of. "It didn't seem at the time he knew Sunstreaker was alive. No one did. Maybe he just meant in the after life, whatever that is for them."

Charlie nodded. "I suppose." She couldn't help but think there was more to it than that. She had so many amazing talks with Ratchet over the past several years. She knew of the Well of Allsparks and of the unique case of the twins, though it seemed she had forgotten the latter.

"I can't help but wonder if he's going to be trouble." Rex admitted. "The way everyone talked - Sideswipe was the only one that could keep Sunstreaker under control. We don't even have Prime here to try and bridge the gap." He sighed.

"It's Sunstreaker," Charlie said as if that were enough to explain it all. "Of course he'll be trouble. But he's a member of this team. Of this family. We can't just give up on him."

"No, you're right." He smiled at her. "Didn't mean to imply otherwise. I'm just worried with that woman poking around. He'll be the proverbial 'big red button'."

"Yeah." Charlie sighed. "Who she hasn't threatened would be a shorter list. We should have just had Blindside comm him," she said starting to get frustrated that they weren't finding Prowl.

"Probably would have been the smart thing to do..." he wondered why he hadn't thought of that. Maybe it was habit from all the hiding and radio silence they had used before.

When they returned to the Bay, Charlie could see a few Wreckers. Crosshairs was up in the rafters cleaning his arsenal and Bulkhead was in his alt mode, probably resting they thought, but as they got closer muffled music could be heard from inside.

"Hey, Bulkhead," Charlie called.

The music stopped and the big mech stood up. "Hey, Charlie. How's it going?"

"Good. Could you comm Prowl for us?"

"Sure." He held his hand to his chest, called out to the officer and waited. His brow furrowed and he tried again.

That uncomfortable feeling was getting stronger. Rex tried to keep it contained. "Something wrong?"

"He's not answering. Must be underground," he shrugged. "You checked the medbay?"

"Yeah," Charlie felt her skin crawl.

"Know where he could have gone?" Rex could feel his hairs rising. Prowl was nothing if not efficient. Why would he go off where he couldn't be reached and not tell anyone?

"You could check outside," Bulkhead said with a shrug. He didn't really know Prowl enough to know where he might go.

"Okay," he nodded. "Why don't you stay here?" He said to Charlie, "in case he comes back." Really what he wanted was for Charlie to stay somewhere safe in case something really was wrong.

"I'll check on Blade," she said, turning to go to where the mech was resting.

"Good," he gave her a quick hug and kiss before trotting off.

Charlie smiled, watching him go before she hurried over to the sleeping mech.

Rex went immediately to where he knew one 'bot was always posted - it made them all feel better about staying in the building surrounded by people that could intend harm. Today it happened to be Mirage keeping watch.

"Hey, Mirage. You seen Prowl recently?"

Mirage looked down at Rex, his instant reaction to deny any usable answer, but Rex had long since proven himself trustworthy. "I have not," he scanned the area quickly. "I do not register him in the area. Were you in need of something?"

"Well, originally we just wanted to make sure everyone knew Tanya's threat had been empty, but now I just find it strange that he's not around."

"That is odd. Prowl is not usually one to wander far, especially if there has been any threat made." He scanned again and also tried his comms with similar response. "I will alert the others. Perhaps someone knows where he has gone."

As calls came back with no one having seen Prowl, tension rose. The last he had been seen according to most was right after Tanya had left. Rex felt his stomach tying in knots as each new message was delivered.

Scatterblade sat against the wall, Silverdust still curled in his arms, though he was now online.

"Hey, Blade," Charlie called lightly, "how are you doing?"

He looked relieved when he saw her. "I'm good. Are you?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Tanya said-" he shook his head. "She is full of it."

"What did she say?" Charlie asked, now a little concerned.

"She had Rex thinking she had taken you."

Charlie's lips went into a hard line. "Really? Well, fine. If that's how she wants to play."

"Whoa, Chuck," Scatterblade held out his hand to block her path, "I wouldn't."

"I'm tired of being scared of my own species," Charlie snipped. After a moment of brooding she remembered she was looking for Prowl. "Have you seen Prowl around?"

"I was going to help him in the medbay, but I beat him there. I haven't seen him since Rex went to look for you."

"We need to get everyone together. If not here in the Bay then on comms. Right now." Her body turned cold as she spoke.

Scatterblade nodded. "I'll find Lu." He stood, keeping Silverdust close to his chassis. The femme had ventured to where the wrecked ship had been stored, looking around the broken pieces. Scatterblade greeted her warmly over their bond when he saw her.

'What are you doing?' He asked, glad to see her curious over something.

'Just looking,' she said with a shrug, turning to see her mate. She looked content, her side of there bond hummed with a sense of ease she hadn't had in a long time. "Seems like I have been blind for too long...with everything," a memory of the tense confusion and fear she had felt constantly flashed over their bond as she tried to explain. "It almost seems unreal."

"It's been one thing after another," Scatterblade said. "Almost blurs." He walked up to her, basking in the calm of the moment. He really hated knowing he would ruin it. "We're all going to the Bay. Bulkhead, me- we can't contact Prowl. I want to know, make sure, that we have everyone."

At first she didn't understand what he meant, but as it dawned on her she vented heavily. "You think he has been captured," she stated. A strange sick feeling settled in her tanks. If Prowl had been captured right under their noses, what hope did they really have?

Scatterblade winced. "We don't know that yet." He hadn't even thought it. 'Yet' had seemed to slip out all on its own. He just hoped it was a misunderstanding.

"You are right, we should see if anyone else is missing." She turned to head that way, sad acceptance settling into her frame.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Scatterblade said, putting her hand in his.

She squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "I know." It was just words, she didn't believe it.

The mech smiled weakly, his frame tense and uncomfortable.

"Come on," she led the way back to the bay where others were already starting to gather.

Crosshairs hadn't come down from the rafters, claiming he had a better view security wise. Drift and Bulkhead stood along the wall. Bumblebee was just heading in from patrol, Hound and Mirage had joined the Wreckers and Blurr was reported as on his way. Arcee waited a little ways off for Bumblebee to join her and Sidestep had picked a place just close enough to be considered part of the meeting without being among the others. Rex had come back inside, gathering Myra and Vance before finding Charlie again. As she joined them, Charlie couldn't help but wonder where the workers had all gone. Granted, it was much later in the night – or really early in the morning - but when they had first arrived, they hadn't been able to get room to breathe. Now it seemed empty.

Blurr arrived before long and the last to arrive where Jazz with Ghoststorm striding confidently behind him - until he spotted the small group of humans. He made a sound of disgust and went as far from them as he could go without just leaving all together. Illusory immediately double checked that Silverdust was safe before moving where she could block the humans from the flier's sight.

Jazz's usual ease was tarnished by tension as he joined the group. He had made several attempts to reach Prowl and all had come up empty. He was not a happy mech. Charlie suddenly felt self-conscious, not wanting to speak. She squeezed Rex's hand for assurance that he was still there. Rex moved closer, trying to offer as much support as he could with his presence. The large mech made him nervous too. Myra and Vance seemed no less comfortable with the flier's glares.

"Who's not here?" Jazz demanded. "Knockout, Ratchet, Wheeljack, Blindside?" He was counting heads as he noted missing frames.

"They're in the medbay. Ratchet is finally resting. I think we can excuse them," Scatterblade said pointedly.

"But someone has seen them, right?" He was not going to take chances. "Recently?"

"We were just down there, Jazz," Charlie said.

He vented with a little relief. "That makes Prowl the only missing frame among us..." He looked around again. "Who saw him last and where? What was he doing?"

"I was going to the medbay after him. We were headed down to tell Ratchet and the others about Tanya's threat. I didn't see him down there and he left before I did," Scatterblade said, trying to think of anything that might have been off then.

"Anyone see him after that?" Jazz waited for someone to speak up, but no one did. "Slag," he all but breathed to himself as he tried to decided their next move. "We start searching every scrap inch of this place between here an there. Find every cubby hole, exit, ventilation system, fragging crack in th' floor!" He had to slow his engine to stop the growling from becoming too loud. "Patrols doubled, keep closer ta th' buildin', this isn't about comfort anymore. Like slag Ah'm gonna let us get picked off when we're finally supposed ta be safe." He looked to be sure everyone understood what he was saying. He paused on Illusory standing protectively over the humans, Scatterblade behind her with Silverdust tucked close. Suddenly he felt that they weren't safe here, there was so much to lose.

Charlie watched them all, gears shifted, ground, and scraped together. A vulnerability crept up her spine and she stepped back, only to step on Rex's foot. She felt some of the tension ebb at his touch. Rex held firm, wrapping both arms around her and holding her against him. He felt the anger, the frustration and fear rising in the room. They had all come here seeking safety, hope, rest...and had walked right into being open for someone to get at them anyway. Who could possibly have been so bold? "Security cameras. Surely Joyce has some installed; we should look into them."

Scatterblade nodded. "What do you need to hack them, Jazz?"

The saboteur thought on it for a klik, trying to factor in everything they all had to accomplish in a short time. They needed answers as quick as possible. "An access point," he decided. He would keep busy searching video feeds for signs of Prowl while he trusted others to the remaining tasks. There were only two mechs he didn't have complete trust in; Sidestep and Ghoststorm. ::Scatterblade,:: he reached out on a private line, ::Ah know ya got yer family ta protect, but will ya keep an optic on Sidestep? He stays close enough ta ya three ta make it easy. Gonna have 'Raj an Hound watch Ghoststorm. Don't know those two well enough.::

::Don't worry about him. I will,:: the frontliner responded.

"What kind of access? A computer or terminal?" Charlie asked.

"Anywhere Ah can tap in," he finished out his silent orders while he spoke. "Any line, port, jack...anything."

"I've seen Attinger's office," she said; blurted really.

"Sounds uh good uh place as any." Jazz nodded. He came and knelt in front of the humans. "Ah'd like fer th' four of ya ta stick with one of th' bots at all times. Don't like ya not havin' protection."

"We're not helpless," Myra snapped, though she was already nodding her approval.

"Besides," Vance said with a smirk, "who else would you get to watch your backs."

Rex nodded too. He knew he would feel better being close enough to help if something came up. "Got this far together."

"We'll let you know when the coast is clear." Charlie turned to Rex. "We're going to need to distract Tanya. It's her office now."

Rex tensed. He knew this had to be all her doing and he wanted to tell her exactly where she could shove it, but that would not likely help the situation.

"Get another spark in ah frame, that'll draw her out of there." He was being partially sarcastic, partially serious. They could use more allies, but it could trigger a worse reaction than what they were already dealing with.

Scatterblade almost shook his head pulling it to one side. "It's worth a shot."

"With Sunstreaker in there ready to tear someone apart? You really think that's a good move?" Mirage had his usual tone of above the situation, but his body language showed interest in the idea.

"You got a better idea?" Scatterblade asked.

He looked like he would say something short and biting, but when the noble realized that everyone was looking at him he just shook his head. "None that would be acceptable," he admitted.

"So let's do it," Charlie said. Rex was great camouflage for her trembling.

"Soon as th' medics are up then, we'll get goin'."

Jazz stood, dismissing those that already had jobs to get to. Myra and Vance both headed out with the patrols. As bots filed off to do what they needed to, the bay became very empty. Jazz paced off, sorting what he had and what they needed to get. Ghoststorm had lingered, he had just been out and intended to recharge for a good long while before joining in the search efforts. Sidestep came nearer to the family, still a good enough distance to be polite while making it obvious he was intentionally being close at hand. Scatterblade gathered Silverdust a little closer, trying to stave off the panic that was creeping into his spark. Charlie watched the others leave, letting the swirl of movement pass before she tried to move.

"I want to help search," Illusory said. She knew Jazz had intentionally left her off the list of tasks; none of them knew for sure where her processor was yet, even though she seemed stable. She was tired of being a liability, she needed to help.

::She can do it,:: Scatterblade told him over a secure line. ::She's never felt clearer. Let her help. I'll be here with Silver.::

::Ya really think she can handle it? Ah don't wanna stress her.::

::Sitting around with nothing to do will stress her more.::

"Alright," he agreed aloud.

Illusory looked surprised that he agreed. She looked to Scatterblade, wondering if he would argue. He smiled, sending her his support in warm waves to her.

'I'll be with Silver.'

Excited to feel useful and not have to be dependent on someone else for a change, she quickly rushed off to help. 'Thank you,' she said to her mate with love.

'Be safe,' he said, pushing aside the discomfort of the growing distance.

'I will,' she promised.

Jazz watched the femme go, a part of him amused and happy to see her not cowering somewhere or trying to fight someone. Still he had doubts.


	47. Chapter 47

~*~ Chapter Forty-Seven ~*~

One Year 8 Days (Still)

Scatterblade turned back to Charlie and Rex. "You okay?" He asked the woman. She nodded, though her grip on Rex tightened.

Rex tried to soothe her with touch. None of this was going to be easy. "Why don't we go relax while we wait?"

Charlie nodded again and forced a smile.

"I'll be here," Scatterblade said, and walked to his corner, Silverdust tucked in his arm.

Rex guided Charlie to a spot where they could be seen but out of the way and comfortable. Charlie leaned against the wall, using Rex's hand to lower herself down. He sat beside her, wondering if this was going to work or end horribly, but kept his thoughts to himself. Charlie curled into him, letting the panic ebb. She wanted to talk to him, ask him anything, tell him what to say to make her feel better, but her lips stayed glued.

"Don't worry," he said finally. "We'll all get through this." He felt odd saying that, like maybe he was cursing them to fail, but damned if they wouldn't try anyway.

"We've gotten through worse," she said trying to pull her optimism higher.

"That's right." He hugged her, rubbing a hand over her arm.

"I'm just worried we haven't seen the worst." Charlie shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm done talking."

"No, Charlie, you don't have to be done. You shouldn't keep it all in."

"I'm trying to keep something from happening. The more I talk, the more I slip, and then I'm just gone," she said at a rushed pace. Each breath became more shallow, and she curled into herself. "That's not clear," she moaned.

"No, it's not," he hugged her closer, "but it's okay."

Her head suddenly felt tight, and she felt herself rocking softly in his arms. "I'm having a panic attack," she said casually. Her eyes were unfocused, gazing off like a deer in the headlight.

"Okay," he said calmly. "It'll be okay. It's been a hard year. We'll all make it through; it's going to, be okay." He kept his voice soothing, rocking with her. This wasn't surprising. After everything they had gone through, a panic attack was the least of what could be.

Charlie stayed that way for some time, riding the slow waves that rolled from her head to her chest and back again. She wanted to laugh, maybe even cry, but instead she sat frozen.

Rex stayed quiet for a while, giving support and trying to help calm her. "Maybe you should stay here with Scatterblade. I can get into Tanya's office; it won't take two of us to get it done."

"You sure?" She sounded relieved and it made her feel guilty.

"Yes," he had almost expected an argument, he knew he would feel better with her safe here out of harm's way.

"I can help," she whined, still unable to calm herself.

"Of course you can. You do, have, and will. But I think maybe this time, it will be okay if it's just me."

"Please, be careful."

"I will," he promised. He held onto her, feeling more at ease knowing she would be here, safe. The wait wouldn't be as hard.

Charlie rocked for several more minutes, tears slipped down her cheeks. She felt stupid for crying, for panicking at all, but it was halfhearted. Having Rex there made it better, less like she was out of control.

It was quite some time before Jazz indicated that things were about to begin. Knockout was up and seemed more than ready to cause some trouble. Blindside was happy to have a distraction from Sunstreaker. Knockout had quickly assessed the partially completed frames and chose the best one. He and Blindside got to work on finishing up what had to be done to support a spark while Wheeljack claimed 'Ah know what will help!' And set to yet another task very diligently.

Charlie had finally calmed down and reluctantly let go of Rex's hand. He gave Charlie a kiss and another firm hug before he left her with Scatterblade. Charlie held onto him for as long as she could.

"It may still be a while, but I want to be somewhere she won't see me when she storms off." Rex explained as he prepared to leave the Bay.

"Stay safe," Scatterblade nodded.

"You too," he nodded to the mech, glancing over the sparkling and Charlie. An unease ran through him, but he shoved it down and headed for the elevator. Sidestep made a show of lounging not far from the small group, still not willing to socialize, but willing to show he was there if needed.

Rex had been just in time to miss the raging storm that was Tanya as she rushed down the halls toward the elevator. Had he be been a second later she would have seen him ducking down a side corridor to avoid her. He almost laughed at how easy this seemed and slipped back into the hall and headed for her office.

"Alright, Jazz, it's your thing now," he whispered as he planted the device the saboteur had given him near the main server in Tanya's office. He paused to look at the room wondering what a woman like her might hide in plain sight.

It was a simple office with little personal decor. A patriotic flag, some mugs and a few photographs of military balls. She wasn't one to dress up, though she did smile slightly in some of the younger pictures. There was even a smiling couple that might have been her parents. There were two plants standing in the corners of the room just adjacent to the door. A large dark cabinet with several drawers, two doors and side shelves dominated the wall.

Rex poked around a little, more curious than searching for anything specific. He was rather certain that anything they would need to know Jazz now had access to, but still, it never hurt to look. He didn't move anything that could be noticed, but inspected anything that he was sure wouldn't be spotted. He checked the file drawers, expecting they would be locked, and same with the doors. Several of them were, all the drawers on the cabinet held firm, but the door gave. Inside were several screens one right on top of the other, all rotating every few seconds from cameras all over the facility. The middle screen of the three changed and Rex could see the bay, Charlie still with Scatterblade and Silverdust. Another screen showed the medbay, Blindside near the elevator door.

"Oh," he didn't know why he was surprised. He had been sure she watched them like crooks; here was the proof. He watched the screens for a few minutes, seeing what she saw and wondering what she thought while she watched them all so closely. He was annoyed by the invasion, but they had known it would be this way. He felt bad for their friends, there wasn't a 'bot among them that had privacy within the building. It was a wonder they hadn't all left already. They stayed, he knew, because they needed what they could get here. It was crap. Unfair. Angry he slammed the door and headed back. He would be with Charlie and his friends where he was meant to be. Where he wanted to be. Had he stayed just a few moments longer, he would've seen the screens go black as the power to the rest of the building was cut, the bay, the medbay, and the lower levels.

Blindside was heading back to the table when the lights went out. "She saw it. Let's move." He barricaded the door in his alt mode, the elevator shaft locked in place.

"Why are th' lights out?" Wheeljack asked as he approached with his new device in hand.

"Who gives a slag about the lights; what is that and what are you doing with it?" Knockout was grabbing the spark cage. He hardly cared who it was, only that their point was made. Slag the human that told him he couldn't do his duty as a medic.

"It's a transfer module, keeps th' sparks from tryin' ta slip off when yer puttin' them in their new cases." Wheeljack fitted the device to the new frame's spark chamber and grabbed the cage from Knockout to fit on the opposite end. "See?" He locked the device in place, pressed a button and pulled a leaver, allowing the spark to drift from captivity to its new frame without the shock of open air and stimuli to excite it.

"That would have been useful." Knockout grumbled even as he prepared for yet another rude awakening once the spark settled into its new frame.

The mech onlined with a shunt of air, vents working hard, optics onlined brightly. He sat up abruptly, his vocalizer trying hard to catch up with a rambling of words. Something about the words, the longer they listened, started to piece together and make sense and confuse them even further. The mech had been in the middle of very old prayer. Blindside couldn't remember when he'd last heard anything like it, even he hadn't been any kind of organized before the war.

The mech stopped speaking and looked about in the dark at the other bots. "Where- where am I?"

"Earth, you're safe," Wheeljack answered with a kind tone.

"That's a matter of opinion," Knockout added as he continued with his scans, detaching the transfer module and making sure his plating closed properly.

It only confused the mech more. "Where is that?"

"Well...where do you remember being last?" Wheeljack ignored Knockout's comment, focusing on bringing the mech up to date as much as possible.

Before he could respond a bang sounded from the elevator shaft. Blindside transformed, forgetting about blocking the way and grabbing up his weapon. "Guys, I've got bogeys coming down the lift."

Wheeljack moved between the new mech and the elevator, keeping his body language and tone as calm as ever. Knockout, on the other hand grabbed the stun rod that the inventor had used previously on Sunstreaker and stood ready.

The prospect of an enemy - one that seemed mutually recognized anyway - had Sunstreaker up and on his feet in an instant, slag the aches and pains, or the strange off-ness in his spark, he would fight. Knockout started to say something, then thought better of it and kept his mouth shut. Better to have the crazy pointed somewhere else. The mech stumbled off the table and ducked behind one of the several pillars throughout the room.

The noise grew quiet until the doors blew open and gunfire sprayed into the room. Blindside took the front line firing back and blinding them in flood lights as the human soldiers advanced. Sunstreaker roared and lunged forward. Last he remembered, humans had turned against them; humans had been the ones to take him down, and humans had deactivated his brother. The rage that heated his frame caused steam to rise off him as he knocked away guns and struck one human after another.

"Sunny! Don't kill 'em!" Wheeljack was scrambling from where Ratchet still lay in drug induced recharge, yanking the medic from his berth to a more protected place.

Knockout found a shielded spot and waited until he could strike without too much damage to himself. Blindside moved back, the weapons starting to hit more painful places. Hitting back and knocking them down wasn't too hard to choose from anymore. This team of twenty was whittled down to half in barely five minutes, though the remaining men hid behind the rubble of the blasted elevator shaft. Sunstreaker didn't listen to Wheeljack's warning, he didn't care about the bullets tearing through his armor, he didn't care about anything as he followed those few retreating into the ruins. They were enemy and that's all he knew.

"No good, no good, no good," Wheeljack chanted as he watched from a safe distance.

The dark lit up as the firing continued, added to it were grenades. Blindside did his best to throw them back, nearly panicking as one got too close to their energon stock. He managed to take out another two before the men retreated further. Blindside watched, half stunned as Sunstreaker tore after them. 'Fragging idiot, let him fall into a trap.'

The elevator became a hole in the wall as the combined efforts of grenades and Sunstreaker's blind rage demolished whatever structure there might have once been. The mech grabbed one human not quick enough to get away and flung him hard against a wall before knocking more to the ground, crushing weapons and likely arms at the same time. Four more went down, only three remained. The fire ceased but the frenzied mech pressed on.

'Three, out of twenty,' Blindside thought. Seemed like now was a good time to stop. They weren't going to accomplish much, unless reinforcements came. "Sunstreaker, enough!" He barked above the din.

Sunstreaker growled something that wasn't words, but was clearly meant to be.

"He won't stop," Wheeljack warned sadly. He had seen it too many times, Sunstreaker got so lost in anger and battle rage that he couldn't stop. Not unless he was knocked offline or Sideswipe got to him. "We have ta take him down."

"After you!" Knockout invited the inventor, not eager to get his plating ripped off.

Blindside took the invite, almost too eagerly and he ran at the mech and tackled him from the side. Sunstreaker twisted and rolled, stunned by the unexpected attack but driven as he was he hardly bothered with bracing for impact and turned what once might have been sharp claws on his new opponent; however, this frame had not been given that particular advantage. His digits scraped across armor, seeking gaps to pull, loose plating to tear. When he had leverage enough he punched and kicked.

Knockout watched this new turn in horror. He had grown fond of Blindside and was rather certain he was about to watch him be torn to shreds.

Blindside took what hits came but slid away from most the attacks, slamming his fists into the mech's head, and striking at the back of knees to knock him down. The rage driven frontliner's optic began to flicker as the damage increased, but instead of going black indicating he was going offline, or white into his blind rage, they flickered to a calmer azure blue. With a final strike, the mech went limp but not offline. His optics remained azure and he stared without understanding at the mech that hit him.

Blindside vented heavily and stepped away. "And stay down." He winced as he rolled his shoulder, touching a few spots the mech had landed a hit. Then he glanced to the three soldiers who hadn't been crushed or injured. They were gone.

Sunstreaker uttered something heavy with static, but didn't try to get up.

Knockout went to Blindside, pulling him to a table - and away from the still lax frontliner - to check his injuries. "That was dumb," he scolded in a far more serious tone than he normally used.

"It got him to stop, didn't it?" Blindside said, any defense he wanted to put up was replaced with a wince.

Wheeljack looked over Ratchet quickly to be sure no stray bullets or shrapnel had hit him, then turned to the new mech. "You alright?"

The new mech came out from behind the pillar, a look of astonishment on his faceplates. "What the Pit were those? Where the frag are we?"

"Uh, yeah, back to that." Wheeljack vented, offering a half grin. "Those were some of th' natives..." He looked the mech over once more before going warily toward Sunstreaker. "This is Earth - it's uh tiny organic planet in one of th less traveled parts of th' multi-verse."

"I'm fine," Blindside waved Knockout off. His injuries weren't major, the right side seemed a little off alignment, which did tend to happen when he went linebacker on a 'bot's aft.

"You mean backwater slag pit," Knockout grumbled, finding anything and everything to keep him as far away from Sunstreaker as possible.

The mech shuttered his optics, taking it in. "So... how long was I out?" He asked slowly.

"Well, that depends on when you-" Blindside halted and corrected his train of thought, "went under."

"I was on a mission. My first. And we were attacked. That's all I remember," the mech shrugged.

"What was th' mission? Who was yer CO?" Wheeljack kept talking as he reached Sunstreaker. He was a little surprised that the mech was still online and not trying to attack anything that moved. "S'gonna be alright, Sunny," he soothed, examining the wounds he could see.

"What faction?" Knockout chimed in.

"Faction? What are you talking about? I was sent to find how seriously involved Megatronus was in the terrorist attacks," the mech watched the others with confusion.

"Megatronus?" Knockout almost laughed at the name. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh...that was, well, it was uh long time ago." Wheeljack was shocked by the indication of how long sparks had been 'collected' by Lockdown, but was a professional at not letting his surprise show when working with unstable elements - of which Sunstreaker was very much included.

The mech tried hard to recall anything else. "I don't understand. What did you mean by factions? What happened?"

Blindside shook his head. "Kid, you're gonna want to take that slowly."

"Not like it matters anymore," Knockout shook his head. "Big news: Civil war broke out and it went really badly."

"Maybe there's a more informed way we coulda' gone about that news," Wheeljack suggested as he lifted the strangely compliant mech back to the table he had been on.

Sunstreaker said something heavy with static, a garbled sentence that vaguely contained Wheeljack's designation.

"Yeah, Sunny, it's me. Told ya Ah'd take care of ya."

The mech spoke again, shaking his head before his optics went dark.

"Wonder what all that was..." The inventor pondered out loud.

The mech was stunned to silence, though the gravity of the news wasn't fully understood. Sunstreaker also distracted him. "What's wrong with him?"

"The list of what's right with him would be shorter," Knockout stated with a wary glance at the silent frontliner.

"He's fine," Wheeljack said calmly, setting up a new infusion set, the previous one trashed. "His brother was deactivated some time back and he's goin' through shock, but he'll make it."

"Lucky us," Knockout added.

"My condolences," the new mech nodded sadly.

Blindside watched him carefully, bewildered by this mech who had apparently been in limbo the last four million years. It was either the most perfect stroke of luck any 'bot could ever have or the worst curse in existence.

"So, what's yer designation?" Wheeljack moved on, unbothered by Knockout's continual foul mood. He worked on the basic injuries - nothing was too serious, but likely Ratchet would have to see to him when he came out of his forced recharge.

"Tirade," he said, still with a confused look on his face. "He killed the planet, didn't he?" He had heard all the rumors, being in the guard, even if it was for a short time, he'd heard what Megatronus's actions might lead to.

"Well..." Wheeljack tipped his head from one side to the other as if the answer needed to be weighed first. "It's kinda everybots fault - th' war really. Then there was that thing with Sentinel...who knows what happened ta th' planet after that." He vented with the loss as though it were no more troubling than one of his failed projects.

"Sentinel... Sentinel Prime?" Tirade furrowed his brow. Blindside was right, taking this slowly was his best bet.

"Well, welcome to the mess, Ti. Name's Blindside. That's Wheeljack and Knockout."

::Blindside, is everyone alright?:: Scatterblade's distress bit into his audios.

::Yeah, Scatter we're okay. You?::

::Cemetery Wind is still together. Apparently,:: he grumbled. ::Tanya's gone. Joyce had her arrested.::

::Are you serious?:: Blindside grinned, ::That's awesome.::

"There's uh lot ta catch up on." Wheeljack seemed satisfied with what he had done and stepped away from Sunstreaker, a mildly confused look on his face but he only shrugged and went back to Tirade. "I would take you upstairs to meet the others, but it seems our lift is currently broken. It probably wont be long before something is figured out, fer now ya got me. Where do ya wanna start?"

This was going to be a long conversation; Knockout could tell already he wasn't interested in being a part of it. He had, begrudgingly, seen to the few survivors of Sunstreaker's rage - for once he was pleased with the frontliner's actions. He only wished more of them had died. Oh well. He would do what he could for the living until their own kind came for them.


End file.
